


Akito and Estelle Meet Clifford the Big Red Dog

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Clifford the Big Red Dog (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 17:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8110690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: Georgette and Tito's puppies are finally born and they keep one to raise as she is the runt of the litter and is named Kiki. Georgette then grows to miss her long-lost sister who lives in a place called Birdwell Island. When they all finally visit each other, they discover an odd sight: a big red dog named Clifford.





	1. Chapter 1

One late night in New York City, there was a howl of pain heard. Jenny woke up slightly groggy and slid on her slippers as she climbed out of bed. Oliver followed her, rubbing his eyes with his frontal paws.

Georgette groaned and winced as she looked to be in great pain. "Someone call the vet, the puppies are coming!"

"The puppies are coming?!" Oliver asked out of surprise.

Jenny ran into her butler's bedroom and shook him awake. "Winston, wake up, wake up!"

"Huh?" Winston sat up in his bed and looked at the time. "What is the meaning of this, Jennifer?"

"Georgette's puppies are coming." Jenny replied.

This caused for the butler to go wide-eyed. Georgette groaned and yelled out as she was taken to the vet.

"Now, now, don't worry, Georgette, we'll have you sorted out in no time." the vet told the poodle as he helped her with labor.

Jenny decided to see Fagin and the dogs with Oliver while Winston would be with Georgette and the vet until the puppies would be born.

"I can't believe this is happening now." Oliver said.

"Think of it this way, kid, you'll be an uncle." Dodger smiled.

"I wonder how the puppies would feel to have a cat for an uncle." Jenny giggled.

"I still think it sounds cute, how soon until we can play with 'em?" Einstein asked.

"It would be weeks before they can walk and talk." Francis said.

"Aww..." Einstein pouted.

"Does it always take this long?" Oliver groaned.

"Don't worry, Oliver, it'll be over before you know it." Jenny soothed.

Tito paced around anxiously.

"Whoa! Tito, calm down." Dodger chuckled.

"I can't help it, man!" Tito replied. "I'm gonna be a father!"

"Should we inform Akito and the others?" Oliver asked.

"Allow me to handle this, kid, watch and learn." Dodger said as he came to a window.

Oliver then decided to watch him.

"Aw, how cute, our group is getting bigger," Rita smirked as she looked to Tito before looking to Dodger. "I think I hear the pitter patter of little paws in my own mind."

This caused Dodger to blush. Rita blushed back.

Eventually, Georgette's puppies were born and everyone was gathered together. Even Felicity, Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Eloise. Georgette smiled as she looked down to her puppies who were chihuahua and poodle mix breeds as they drank their mother's milk. There was one very teeny tiny pink poodle puppy who appeared to be the runt of the litter who was trying to fight the others to get some milk and she seemed be as energetic as Tito.

"Aw! That one is as energetic as Tito." Jenny smiled.

Tito chuckled with a smile. "That's my girl!"

"I think I'll name that one Kiki." Georgette said softly.

"I think it's the perfect name for her." Tito smiled.

Georgette and Tito smiled.

"Oh, isn't it absolutely lovely, Weenie?" Eloise smiled as she held her pug dog in her arms with Skipperdy and Ditto on her head after they witnessed the birth of Georgette's puppies with everybody.

"Looks like you guys have some new playmates." Akito smiled to Scruffy and Dot with Estelle.

"Yeah." Estelle also smiled.

Scruffy and Dot looked curiously to the new puppies.

A while after the puppies had been born and they were old enough, they were sent away to be adopted. All except the littlest one that was named Kiki since she was the runt of the litter. Georgette and Tito were worried she would feel discouraged, but she loved having her parents to herself and spending time with her 'Uncle Oliver' and her other 'aunts and uncles' at Fagin's place. Georgette had lately been contacting her sister who lived far away outside of New York City and was trying to somehow arrange for a visit. And where they finally got to arrange a visit. Jenny then invited the others to come along as they were going to a place known as Birdwell Island.

"Mother, what's Birdwell Island?" Kiki asked her mother.

"It's where your Aunt Cleo lives, dear." Georgette smiled back to her daughter.

"Yay!" Kiki smiled.

Georgette chuckled.

Meanwhile...

"Birdwell Island, huh?" Atticus smiled to his kids. "I hear there's a big red dog that lives there."

"Aw, come on, Daddy..." Estelle thought that seemed far-fetched.

"No seriously." Atticus said.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Akito said.

"Okay, if you say, we'll go there when Jenny is ready." Atticus replied.

"You got a deal, Dad." Estelle shook her father's hand while Akito took his other hand.

"A big red dog?" Mo asked out of disbelief. "I think you've been reading too many storybooks from your sister's Day Care, Atticus."

"No really." Atticus said.

"Uh-huh..." Mo replied. "Okay, kids, time for bed."

Akito and Estelle pouted, but they hugged their mother and went to get ready for bed.

"I'll be there in a minute to tuck you all in!" Mo then called to them with a smile.

Akito and Estelle soon went to bed.

"So, a big red dog, huh?" Mo asked her husband curiously.

"I'm serious, there really is one that lives there." Atticus said.

"Do tell..." Mo replied.

Atticus's eyes soon glowed and where after Mo grabbed one of his hands she got to see what he saw.

The two blinked a few times as they were then being shown a time in the past. There was a little blonde girl named Emily Elizabeth Howard who met a neighbor of hers on her birthday and she had wished for a puppy and the mother dog had given birth to puppies and there was a teeny tiny one who had red fur and she was told that he was the runt of the litter, but she loved him anyway and wanted to raise him as her very own.

And where he soon started to grow after a the first night. Atticus and Mo smiled. Emily Elizabeth's love for her puppy she had named Clifford seemed to make him grow. The growing went bigger and bigger and bigger until one day, the dog was way too big for the apartment building and the Howards had to leave their home.

"I'll never doubt anything you hear from anywhere else ever again." Mo said.

"Thank you." Atticus smirked in satisfaction.

The Howard family then left the city and moved to a place called Birdwell Island and Clifford befriended a couple of dogs named T-Bone and Cleo.

"Nice." Mo smiled.

"Looks like Birdwell Island might be another adventure." Atticus said.

"What isn't an adventure?" Mo chuckled.

"Good point." Atticus said.

"Oh, how exciting, we're going to an island," Mo beamed. "Do you think anything will happen there?"

They soon got their answer as the scene of the vision changed.

"Oh, no, not again..." Mo muttered.

They soon saw a small circus of different animals and where they also saw Clifford and the others leaving. There was a blue ferret, a brown cow, and a couple of other dogs.

"Why are they leaving?" Mo asked.

"Show must be over," Atticus remembered. "Whenever a show was over at the Casey Junior circus, we would leave on the train to the next town."

"Is it me or is Clifford going with them?" Mo asked her husband.

"Okay, so then this must mean they are going with them for some reason." Atticus said before they heard a man laughing, making a joke about the big red dog's appetite.

"Something tells me a certain detective has work to do." Mo replied.

"A certain detective agrees with you." Atticus nodded to his wife.

"The entire family is getting involved, isn't it?" Mo asked.

"Yep." Atticus nodded.

"I knew you were going to say that." Mo said.

"Oh, yeah, how?" Atticus smirked.

"I'm a woman, I know everything." Mo smirked back playfully.

"True." Atticus smirked playfully back.

The two then woke up from their vision.


	2. Chapter 2

Mo came into her twins' bedroom and tucked them in for the night as they were ready for bed.

"Mom, do you really think that there really is a big red dog on the island?" Akito smiled.

"I'm sure there is if your father says there is," Mo smiled back to him. "We've seen pretty strange things, even before you two were even born."

"True." The Fudo twins nodded.

Mo then hugged them and kissed them good night. "Good night, I love you both so much."

"Don't we get a story?" Estelle pouted as she hugged her teddy bear.

"What story would you like to hear?" Mo asked them with a smile.

"The story about your and Dad's wedding day." Estelle smiled.

"Oh, are you sure?" Mo smiled as she knew that was coming, she never minded telling the story because she loved telling it as much as Atticus did since it was the happiest day of their lives together. "You've both heard that story so many times."

"Please, Mom..." Akito begged. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Well... Okay." Mo smiled.

"Yay!" The Fudo twins cheered. "Jinx!"

Mo laughed to that. Akito and Estelle giggled before settling down in their beds.

"We're ready." The Fudo twins said after getting settled.

"Okay, okay," Mo smiled. "Well, it all started in the land of Equestria..."

Flashback shows everything in the Crystal Empire getting ready for a special wedding. Twilight was making sure that everything was going to be perfect since she was going to marry Atticus and Mo and was also the wedding planner. Spike was by her side as always as numerous ponies ran back and forth to arrange everything for the bride and groom.

"Oh, this is so exciting," Twilight gushed outside of her hectic busy behavior. "I haven't been this excited since Shining Armor and Cadence's wedding!"

"I know." Spike smiled.

Mo walked over with Atticus. "We're ready for the rehearsal dinner when you are, Twilight."

"Alright, now remember, no seeing each other until the wedding." Twilight reminded them.

"We know, Twilight." Atticus said.

"Just so we're clear." Twilight reminded.

"Twilight, it's okay, besides, you're doing the service," Mo smiled. "It'll be like Rarity's wedding to Fancy Pants."

"Yeah." Atticus agreed in memory.

Twilight smiled to them and gave them a hug.

After the rehearsal dinner, there was time to set up for the wedding. Atticus and Mo spent their day apart from each other until it would be time for them to promise themselves to each other for life. Sweetie Belle stood by the organ as Forte sat on the bench of it and she had a microphone in place as she would sing along to the Wedding March and Cherry was standing in position as she had been asked to be Atticus's Best Mare and where Patch and Shining Armor were the ring bearers.

Button Mash smiled to Sweetie Belle which made her blush to him. Atticus seemed to get nervous. Millions of thoughts flooded his mind as he bit his hoof anxiously. Suddenly, the Wedding March played and Sweetie Belle sang along. Everyone stood up as Mo was coming and James had his own Equestrian form as he linked arms with his adoptive daughter and walked her down the aisle with the flower fillies following them.

'S-She looks beautiful.' Atticus thought to himself.

"Who is giving her away?" Twilight asked.

"Her mother and I." James replied as he held Mo close.

Twilight then backed up and helped Mo up the steps as she was now coming to stand across from Atticus.

'Just stay calm, Atticus, just stay calm.' Atticus thought to himself.

Twilight began the service for Atticus and Mo.

Back out of the story...

Mo smiled as the twins had fallen asleep and she kissed them both good night. "I love you two very much." she smiled as she turned out their light and let them get some sleep. She soon got out of the twins' bedroom and then saw her strong husband outside the room, seeming to have overhearing the story. "Well, hello there."

"You told them the story again?" Atticus asked.

"Well, it's their favorite, and it's such a wonderful story." Mo replied.

"Yes, yes, it is." Atticus smiled.

Mo smiled back as she lay down in their bed next to him. "So, did you get a ride for us to Birdwell Island?"

"Yep, I sure did." Atticus smiled.

"I knew you would," Mo smiled back. "And the gang's gonna be there... Though, not Emi, hope Akito doesn't mind that."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Atticus replied. "I heard from New York that Nanny's brother is in town, so we'll take care of Eloise because Darla has to go to London for a couple of weeks."

"Poor Darla, she's always so busy in Europe..." Mo frowned.

"I know, I really wanna do something to help, but she seems happy, at least, I think she does..." Atticus replied.

"I doubt it." Mo said.

"She's always in a good mood when she calls..." Atticus shrugged.

"I don't think so," Mo said. "I mean, she goes to Europe all the time and she barely has enough time for Eloise... I have a suspicion that whoever wants her in Europe is trying to keep her away from her own daughter."

"I agree." Atticus said.

"I can watch over her." Drell said as he appeared in the room.

"Hello, Drell." Atticus and Mo droned.

"No scream?" Drell sounded disappointed. "Not even an 'eep'?"

"I'm not afraid of you, besides, you visit all the time." Atticus replied.

"Fair point." Drell said.

"What do you want, Drell?" Atticus asked as he looked like he wanted to cuddle with his wife throughout the night.

"I can watch over Eloise for ya while you and your family go to Birdwell Island." Drell said.

"Oh, no," Atticus replied. "Eloise is coming with us actually, Nanny's going to visit her brother at their friend's house while Darla is in London for two weeks."

"Besides, I don't think you could handle someone like Eloise," Mo giggled. "I know you plan on training her and the kids when they're in high school like you did with us, but she has her father's sense of humor."

"I think I can handle her." Drell said.

Atticus and Mo smirked to that since they have heard stories about Eloise's tutor Phillip who often quit on a regular basis due to having a hard time teaching the little girl since she didn't go to school like a normal kid.

"Okay then, she's all yours for two weeks." Atticus smirked.

"I thought you said she was going with you?" Drell said.

"Oh, she is, but you're going to be her replacement nanny since Nanny is away." Mo agreed with her husband.

"How hard can it be?" Drell shrugged innocently.

After he left, the couple then started to cuddle.


	3. Chapter 3

At the Plaza Hotel...

"Okay, deary, you be a good little girl while I'm gone," Nanny hugged Eloise nice and tight. "Say hello to your cousins, aunts, and uncles for me, now I must move, move, move."

"Bye, Nanny, I love you." Eloise hugged her nanny back.

"And don't worry, everything will be just fine." Ditto said.

Nanny kissed Eloise's forehead and then went off. Eloise then waited in the lobby for her 'temporary nanny' to arrive like around the time of Spring as she sat and waited with her Pokemon. She then had him try out being different forms with people from the hotel to make her laugh.

"So, who shall I be today?" Ditto asked.

"Do Prunella." Eloise giggled to her Ditto.

Ditto nodded before transforming into Prunella. Eloise giggled.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah." Ditto imitated the snooty and strict woman event coordinator of the hotel.

Eloise continued to giggle at this. Ditto laughed himself and then morphed back to his original form.

"So, who's going to be the replacement?" Ditto asked.

"Mother said it was one of Uncle Atticus's old friends..." Eloise shrugged. "I hope it isn't like that time Rachel's friend Nicole stole Bill from us."

"Same here." Ditto said.

Eloise gently pet him.

Drell came into the hotel and came to see Miss Thompson so he could find Eloise. "Excuse me, do you know where Eloise is?" The warlock asked.

"Yep, she's right over there, sir." Miss Thompson replied and pointed to one of the couches where the 'Plaza's princess' was waiting for him.

Drell nodded to her and came up to the little blonde girl. "You must be Eloise."

"That's me." Eloise smiled.

"Great, uh, where's your stuff?" Drell asked.

"Bill!" Eloise called out to her favorite Plaza Hotel employee.

Bill came over with a luggage carrier that had several bags packed for the little girl.

"Wow." Drell said.

"Need a hand, sir?" Bill asked.

"No, no, I got it." Drell promised.

Charlie smiled as he got the door for Eloise.

"Bill, you promise to keep an eye on Skipperdee?" Eloise asked as Weenie was in her arms then.

"Of course, Skipperdee's family." Bill smiled to her.

"Aw!" Eloise smiled.

Bill patted her on the head.

"Goodbye, goodbye, I'll be back soon!" Eloise waved as she went out the hotel doors and left with Drell.

"Why do you and your nanny always say one word twice?" Drell asked.

"You mean why does Nanny say things three times?" Eloise asked the warlock.

"Yes." Drell nodded.

"Because she does." Eloise said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Drell looked curious, but he guessed he would just have to take her word for it.

"Good luck," Mr. Salamone said to the warlock. "You're gonna need it."

"Oh, how bad could she be?" Drell shrugged.

"You'll find out soon." Mr. Salamone said.

Drell shrugged again and then left the hotel with Eloise. Once they were at a good spot and made sure no one else was watching.

"Okay, take out the brooch your mother gave you." Drell then told Eloise.

The girl nodded and took out the brooch and was sent to where her cousins were so they could go to Birdwell Island all together.

"And away we go." Drell said.

They then disappeared from Fifth Avenue and were now transported as the others were on a ferry that was going to Birdwell Island.

"I haven't seen my sister since we lived in the kennel." Georgette was very excited which made Oliver happy because she was happy.

"I can't wait to meet her." Oliver smiled.

"Me neither!" Kiki beamed since she was going to meet her aunt for the first time.

"Now, I expect you to be on your best behavior, dear." Georgette reminded her daughter.

"Si, Mother." Kiki nodded to her mother with a smile.

"I'm sure she'll be on her best behavior." Oliver smiled.

"Thanks, Uncle Oliver." Kiki said.

Oliver chuckled. "Uncle Oliver, I like the sound of that."

Vincent held Jenny by her waist as they both looked out from the end of the ferry.

"I'm King of the World!" Vincent laughed.

"Sure, but in what way?" Akito smirked.

Vincent glanced while Akito just laughed at him.

"Thanks for letting me come too, guys," Eloise smiled. "Weenie really appreciates it."

"No problem, Eloise." Estelle smiled back.

Felicity took deep breaths. "Are we almost at the docks?"

"Almost there." Mismagius said.

Felicity took a deep breath. "I hope it's soon..."

"Don't worry." Atticus said.

"Oui, Uncle Atticus..." Felicity sighed.

Soon enough, the boat docked and the foghorn blared. Once the steps were brought out, everyone came off of the ferry to meet the residents of Birdwell Island who were there to greet their new and old friends.

"I hope we get to meet this big red dog Dad told us about." Akito smiled.

"Gros chien rouge?" Felicity repeated in curiosity.

"Huh?" Scruffy asked out of confusion.

The ferry docked which allowed the visitors to come out on the docks. There was a dark-skinned woman with her own poodle who had a red bow in her head with a black collar.

"Georgette!" the poodle beamed.

"Cleo!" Georgette smiled back to this poodle.

The two poodles soon rushed over to each other. Once they reunited together, they gave each other hugs. Kiki yipped and ran to her mother's side as the two poodles were in tight and warm embrace as it had been a long time since they last saw each other.

"It's been so long since I've seen you, sis." Cleo smiled.

"I'll say." Georgette smiled.

Kiki yipped up and jumped and down excitedly.

"This is your niece Kiki." Georgette introduced.

"Aw! She's so adorable." Cleo smiled.

Kiki smiled up to her aunt.'

"What do you say?" Georgette prompted.

"Gracias, Aunt Cleo." Kiki replied.

"Oh, she speaks Spanish?" Cleo noticed.

"She gets that from her father." Georgette replied.

"Oh, and where is her father?" Cleo asked.

"He couldn't make it, he and his friends had other business to attend to, but we'll keep in touch," Georgette promised. "Oh, Alonzo~"

Cleo rolled her eyes slightly.

"Ooh, what fur conditioner do you use?" Georgette asked. "It looks divine!"

"You want it?" Cleo grumbled. "I hate taking baths."

"Really?" Georgette smiled. "Because I love taking baths."

Cleo stuck her tongue out in mild disgust.

"Oh, and what about being in Dog Shows?" Georgette gushed. "I'm often a shoe in!"

"Are you sure we're sisters?" Cleo glanced.

"Yes, we're sisters." Georgette smiled.

"Hmm..." Cleo hummed about that.

"Oh, did you make a new friend, baby?" Mrs. Diller smiled to her poodle.

"I wonder if there are any cats on this island?" Oliver smiled as he got on the dock.

"I'm sure there are, Oliver." Jenny said as she walked with him and Vincent held her hand.

"So, where are we going to be staying?" Dot asked.

"I'm sure there's a hotel close by." Estelle said to her puppy.

"Great." Dot smiled.

Estelle smiled back. Dot looked all around as they saw various other dogs along with the kind folks of Birdwell Island. They all soon felt the ground shake as if something really big was coming.

"Whoa!" the others yelped.

"Cleo, what is that?!" Georgette panicked.

Cleo giggled. "Here comes Clifford!"

"Who's Clifford?" The rest of the pets and Pokémon asked.

"See for yourself." Cleo smiled.

The visitors looked up in surprise to see a very large red dog who smiled down to them. Teddy hid behind Estelle nervously and shivered.

"It's okay, Teddy, it's okay..." Estelle soothed her Teddiursa.

"H-He's real." Larvitar smiled.

Atticus looked satisfied with himself as Clifford the Big Red Dog appeared before them.

"Heya, Big Guy." Cleo smiled to her friend while Georgette looked simply jaw-dropped.

"Wow..." Oliver said, jaw-dropped.

The dog barked.

"Whoa!" Cherry put her hands over her ears and looked like she had a bad earache. "Wow... That was loud..."

Felicity giggled as she seemed to like Clifford so far. Akito seemed to already like Clifford as he seemed like a nice dog. Clifford smiled down to the visitors.

"Whoa..." Mo muttered. "And I thought Mooch was big."

"That sheepdog?" Atticus replied. "Yeah. Um, do you know the way to a hotel, boy?" He then asked.

"Sure!" Clifford barked, he then lowered himself down and allowed them to ride on his back.

"This is so cool." Scruffy smiled.

The humans then came aboard with their pets and Pokemon.

Drell seemed a little nervous about being this high. "Um... Giddy up?" he nervously told Clifford once they were now in the air after he stood up on all fours with them on his back.

"This is so awesome." Akito smiled.

Clifford then moved with them to take them to the island's hotel for their temporary stay. Drell seemed rather anxious to be this high.

"Whee, this is even better than the carnival!" Eloise cheered with a laugh.

"It's better then going on a roller-coaster!" Estelle cheered.

"Maman, this is the best!" Felicity beamed.

Cherry hid a small smile at her daughter's happiness.

"This is the best day ever!" Dot cheered.

Drell looked a little nervous.

Eventually, they made it to a hotel and Clifford dropped them off.

Drell shuddered nervously. "You don't think tht was a bit too much, do you, Cherry?"

Cherry stoically glanced at him and walked with the others to check in to the hotel.

"Really? Just me?" Drell asked. "Well, at least hopefully this hotel will have enough rooms for us."

But unfortunately, the hotel didn't seem to have enough rooms for all of them just for one.

Eloise sat on the counter and kicked her legs back and forth as she looked around this hotel and saw what it had to offer as Atticus rang the front desk bell.

"Yes, sir?" The concierge asked.

"We'd like to stay here please," Atticus told the concierge. "You have rooms for a bunch of us?"

The concierge looked over and his eyes widened to see how many people were in line. "Are you all together?"

"Yes, sir." Atticus nodded.

"Hi, I'm Eloise, I'm six," Eloise smiled to the concierge. "You seem nicer than Mr. Salamone."

"Well, I'm sorry, but the only room we have available is one for a small family." The concierge said.

"Surely you can work something out." Mo said.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you," the concierge shrugged with a small smirk. "Tough luck."

"Well, maybe we can ask someone if we can stay with them for two weeks?" Estelle suggested.

"Who's gonna fit us all, Baby Atticus the Second?" Cherry asked her niece.

"Not all of us, but maybe some of us while the rest find another house to stay for the two weeks as well." Estelle said.

"It's the best we can do." Drell had to agree.

Eloise found a luggage cart and started to play with it like she would do at the Plaza.

"Oh, hey, stop that, Eloise!" Drell scolded her.

"Young lady, that is not to be played with!" The concierge added.

Eloise giggled until Cherry pulled her off and put her on the floor.

"Stop that," Cherry scolded. "This isn't the Plaza."

"What do you mean?" Eloise asked.

"Um, how do I say this nicely?" Cherry struggled. "You're kinda spoiled at the Plaza and you get away with everything because everybody loves your mother and nanny so much."

"Oh..." Eloise said.

"Can we go and find a place to stay now?" Larvitar asked.

"Yeah, come on, I'm sure some people won't mind some guests." Akito said as he held his Larvitar close so he wouldn't get lost.

And so, they started to look for anyone with a house willing to accept some people with no place to stay. It seemed to take quite a bit of time. While the kids waited while their parents talked, they just sat together and hung out. Weenie's left ear went up as he overheard something and walked toward it.

"Where are you going, Weenie?" Eloise asked.

"I think he smells or hears something." Felicity suggested.

"Let's follow him." Akito said.

"What about the grown-ups?" Jenny asked in concern about leaving while the adults did their work.

"We'll be back before they even notice us gone." Akito said.

"Okay..." Jenny said as she then stood up. "Come on, Oliver."

"Coming, Georgette?" Oliver looked to his 'sister'.

Georgette smiled at the sights of Birdwell Island as she caught up with Cleo.

"Eh, she'll catch up." Oliver shrugged and followed the others.

"Where could Weenie be going?" Dot asked.


	4. Chapter 4

The others followed the pug dog as there was a carnival being set up on the island.

"Ooh." Weenie smiled.

"Wow..." Jenny was amazed. "It's like a fairy land."

"Yeah." Estelle smiled.

"Let's check it out." Akito suggested.

"Okay." Vincent said.

The kids then went with their pets and Pokemon to check out the carnival as it was being set up.

"This carnival is unlike anything I've seen." Teddy said.

"It looks like a ton of fun." Vulpix smiled.

"Totally." The female Ralts smiled back.

"Come on then, let's go!" Estelle said before pouting. "Um, if we're allowed to that is."

"Oh, come on, who'll stop us?" Eloise laughed. "Now come on, guys, let's go, go, go!"

"Yeah!" The male Ralts smiled.

Everyone then ran all around to explore the carnival. There were a few animals shown, such as a blue ferret, a cow, and a couple of dogs. Scruffy and Dot decided to meet the dogs.

"I wonder if they do an act." Dot said.

"I'm sure they do if they work here." Scruffy replied.

"Hello, fellow canines." Dot greeted the two dogs.

"Oh, hello there!" the first dog smiled.

"You here to enjoy the show?" The second dog asked.

"Oh, you guys are show dogs?" Scruffy asked.

"Indeed we are," the first dog smiled. "The name's Dirk the Dachshund."

"Nice to meet you." Dot smiled.

"And who are you?" Scruffy asked the other dog.

"Rodrigo the Chihuahua at your service.' the other dog smiled.

"Nice to meet you too." Dot smiled.

"I'm Dorothy." the cow introduced herself.

"The name's Shackleford," the ferret smirked as he climbed over to see the puppies. "We're Larry's Amazing Animals."

"It's nice to meet you all." Dot smiled.

"So, you kids want the carny lifestyle?" Shackleford asked.

"Oh, no, we're just looking." Dot replied.

"Yeah." Scruffy added.

"You seem strong for a pup." Rodrigo smiled to Scruffy.

"Thanks," Scruffy said. "I get that a lot."

"I'm strong too." Rodrigo smiled.

"How strong?" Scruffy smiled.

"I lift weights, come watch the show and find out." Rodrigo replied.

"Interesting." Scruffy smirked.

"We will watch the show." Dot smiled.

"Suit yourself," Rodrigo smiled back. "We hope you enjoy it."

"I have a feeling we might." Scruffy smiled.

Dot then smiled as they saw the other animals. 

"What are you kids doing?!" a man's voice called.

"Gotta skitter!" Eloise said quickly.

They all soon ran for their lives.

"Wait up, guys!" the Pokemon rushed after their humans with the pets.

"Can this get any worse?" Vincent asked.

"I think we're safe now." Snow White said as she latched onto his head.

Vincent pulled off his kitten and held her in his arms, gently petting her to calm her down from fright.

"I think we lost him." Estelle said.

"You okay, girl?" Vincent asked.

"I think so..." Snow White gently purred. "I wake up from my nap and this is where it gets me..." she then yawned. "I'm going back to sleep."

"You really need more exercise..." Vincent sighed to his kitten.

"Yeah, yeah..." Snow White fell asleep.

Vincent sighed and rolled his emerald eyes at his kitten. There were other kids who were coming by the carnival and looked excited to come check it out.

"Should we get back to the adults?" Jenny asked.

"Probably." Vincent agreed with that.

"But what about the show?" Dot asked.

"We'll come back later when they're done setting up," Felicity suggested. "It might be a good idea so we don't interrupt anything."

"Oh, alright." Dot pouted.

The kids, Pokemon, and pets then came over to their parents and guardians.

"So, we're decided on which houses we'll try, right?" Drell asked.

"That's right, we'll split up by our families, but you will stay with Eloise since Darla and Nanny aren't here." Cherry replied.

"Yes, I will." Drell nodded.

Eloise glanced up at Drell as Weenie stayed by her side. The three groups then split up to settle in.

"You can stay with us, Jenny," Mo said to the redheaded girl. "You are close with Estelle."

"And Vincent." Akito smirked.

Vincent soon blushed at the mention of Jenny.

"Hopefully there's enough room." Jenny smiled.

"I'm sure there is." Estelle said.

The Fudo family then went in with Jenny to the one house and they rented it out and made it a lot like their house back at home so they would all feel comfortable enough. Atticus even used his magic to make Jenny's room to be just like hers back at home and it would be like she was living with them.

"Thanks, Detective Fudo." Jenny smiled.

"You're welcome, Jenny." Atticus smiled back.

"And look at the house next to ours with the big doghouse." Estelle said as she looked out the window.

"That must be where that big red dog lives," Akito said as he looked with her. "I hope they have kids too..." 

"Oh, I'm sure they do..." Atticus said knowingly after remembering his vision about Clifford the Big Red Dog.

"I wonder if he's home?" Dot said.

"Curious, aren't we?" Mo giggled to the kids. "You seem as curious as our old friend George."

"Who?" Snow White asked.

"Those stories about our monkey friend from the city who became friends with the man in the yellow hat." Atticus said.

"Oh, I love those ones, especially when George was almost in space." Akito chuckled.

"Same here." Estelle smiled.

Scruffy soon opened the window to get to their neighbor. Dot joined him.

Scruffy jumped down and hit the ground, but then shook himself and rushed over to the neighboring house.

"Oh, Horace, we have even more new neighbors." a kindly woman smiled.

"Better not be like that Clifford..." a grouchy older man grumbled.

"Oh, Horace, don't worry; besides, I don't think there could be any dog as big as Clifford." The kindly woman assured her husband.

The grouchy man grumbled. Scruffy and Dot then looked up and saw the enormous doghouse with Clifford's name on it. Inside they could see sets of stairs with many pictures of the big red dog with a blonde girl in pink and black clothing.

"Whoa, this doghouse is amazing." Dot smiled.

"Wow, there's a lot of storybooks here," Scruffy looked in one drawer. "A dog named Speckle, he has friends named Reba the Rabbit, Darnell the Duck, Robbie the Panda, and Luna the Raccoon."

"Cool," Dot smiled. "I wonder when he'll be back?"

Scruffy only shrugged.

Weenie came over to see them. "There you guys are!"

"Hey, Weenie." Scruffy and Dot greeted.

"Whoa..." Weenie looked around. "So this is what a doghouse looks like."

"Well, this is what a big doghouse looks like." Scruffy said before he saw a big shadow overcast them.

"Well, it's pretty cool." Weenie had to admit.

The three then noticed the shadow and turned around to see the big red dog of Birdwell Island.

"H-H-Hello." Dot smiled.

"Erm,... Greetings.... Friend..." Scruffy smiled nervously himself.

"Friends?" Clifford smiled. "Darn pleased to meet ya!"

"Nice to meet you too." Weenie smiled back.

Clifford then lowered slightly to them. "I don't think I've seen you guys before, were you with that poodle that Cleo was with earlier?"

"Yeah, that's Georgette, turns out she and your friend are sisters." Dot replied.

"Yeah." Scruffy said.

"What a small world," Clifford smiled. "Have you met my other friend T-Bone yet?"

"Don't think so, but he sounds cool." Scruffy licked his lips since the mentioned dog shared a name with steak.

"He sure is, and lots of fun too." Clifford smiled.

Scruffy, Dot, and Weenie smield back to Clifford.

"You know, my brother is super-strong." Dot smiled.

"Oh?" Clifford asked.

"I bet I could lift your house." Scruffy smirked.

"How's about you just lift me up?" Clifford suggested.

"Oh, you're on!" Scruffy laughed as he came to Clifford's side.

"Believe it or not, but I wasn't always this big," Clifford smiled. "I used to be the runt of my litter."

"No way!" Dot couldn't believe that.

"Really, I used to be much smaller." Clifford said as he now laid down for Scruffy to lift him up.

Scruffy then came to one side. "Really?"

"Yeah, a lot of people say that Emily Elizabeth's love for me helped me grow." Clifford replied.

"Well, love is the most powerful magic of all." Dot smiled.

Clifford then felt himself being lifted off the ground. "Are ya doing it?!"

"Yep!" Scruffy smiled as he lifted up the big red dog.

"Whoa!" Clifford smiled back. "You weren't kidding."

"Da da da da da da daaa!" Scruffy hummed the Superman theme with a laugh.

"Okay, okay, you can put me down now." Clifford laughed.

Scruffy smiled and gently put Clifford down. "There we go."

"Wow, you weren't foolin'," Clifford smiled down to his new friend. "If Daffodil could see me now."

"Who's Daffodil?" Dot asked.

"Emily Elizabeth's pet rabbit." Clifford said.

"Oh, where is she?" Scruffy asked.

"Oh, she doesn't live here..." Clifford said. "She went to sleep one night when we still lived in the city and never woke up."

This caused for Scruffy, Dot, and Weenie to become sad as they knew what that meant, but Clifford didn't seem to know what it meant.

"By any chance, did Emily Elizabeth cry when Daffodil never woke up?" Scruffy asked.

"Yeah, I never really understood why." Clifford replied as he sounded mysterious now.

"Um, Clifford, I'm afraid Daffodil might have died." Dot said as gently as she could.

"Died?" Clifford asked.

"Yes..." Scruffy said softly himself. "I-It's when someone goes to sleep and they don't wake up... They... Stop living... I-I'm sorry."

"Um, do they also stop b-breathing?" Clifford asked, frightened.

Scruffy, Dot, and Weenie slowly and sadly nodded.

"I... I thought she just had trouble waking up..." Clifford frowned. "I tried to cheer up Emily Elizabeth, but she wasn't the same for a while... Even Norville, Flo, Zo, and Jorge were a little distant after that day."

"Friends of yours, I'm guessing." Weenie said.

"From the city," Clifford replied. "Norville was a bird, Flo and Zo were kittens, and Jorge was another dog. There were also these mice who lived in the walls of the apartment and they were a family." 

"Sure wish we could bring them here so then they could meet your new friends." Scruffy said.

"Maybe someday." Clifford replied.

"Yeah." Dot agreed.

"Clifford?~" a young merry female voice called.

"Emily Elizabeth!" Clifford beamed. 

"You better then go to her." Scruffy smiled.

Clifford rushed over with a smile to a young blonde girl.

"There you are, boy." Emily Elizabeth giggled and hugged her dog. 

"That must be her." Dot smiled.

"She seems nice." Scruffy smiled back.

"Yeah." Weenie agreed. 

"Well, we better get back to the others." Dot said.

"Come on then." Weenie said as Clifford was with Emily Elizabeth.

"Wanna go to the carnival, boy?" Emily Elizabeth smiled to her pet. 

"Yeah!" Clifford smiled in Dog language.

Emily Elizabeth giggled. "Let's go meet them."

Clifford agreed as he carried her on his back to meet their human friends. 

Emily Elizabeth giggled. "Let's go meet them."

Clifford agreed as he carried her on his back to meet their human friends. 

"Mom, Dad, can we go to the carnival?" Estelle asked.

"Of course, it sounds like a lot of fun." Mo smiled. 

"Yay!" The kids cheered.

"Drell!" Atticus called.

Drell came over. "Yes, my so--Erm... Friend...?"

"Mind taking our kids to the carnival?" Atticus asked.

"Taking your kids to the carnival?" Drell sounded annoyed. 

"Can you take it?!" Atticus challenged about Drell putting up with kids like Eloise.

"I can take it." Drell narrowed his eyes in determination. 

"Then prove it." Atticus smirked.

"I will!" Drell challenged.'

"Do it then." Cherry said icily and stoically. 

"Fine, I will." Drell said.

"Okay." Atticus smirked.

"Come on, kids." Drell called to the children. 

"Coming!" The kids, pets, and Pokemon called back.

Drell rolled his eyes as he walked out with the kids. The parents just laughed at the idea of Drell being a babysitter. 

"How long do you think he'll last?" Mo asked.

"I give him an hour." Atticus said.

"I give him eleven minutes." Cherry replied. 

"I say he makes it through the carnival." Mo said.

"I agree with Monique." Forte agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile at the carnival as it got dark...

"Come on, Drell!" Eloise pulled on the warlock's arm.

"Whoa!" Drell stumbled slightly as he tried to catch up with the kids. "Easy there, Eloise!" 

"We don't wanna miss the show." Akito said.

"We'll get there." Drell said, slightly annoyed as these children seemed to rush him.

"Can I ride on your back?" Eloise was about to climb on the warlock's back.

"Sure." Drell groaned.

"Yay!" Eloise climbed on his back and latched herself onto him with a giggle. "Wow, you're much taller than Nanny or Bill."

Drell rolled his eyes with a mumble as he walked with the kids to bring them into the carnival.

"This is going to be so much fun." Teddy smiled as he was out of his Pokeball.

"Stay close to me, Teddy." Estelle warned gently.

"Yes, Mama." Teddy replied.

"I can't wait to have some fun here." The male Ralts smiled.

Drell seemed to suffer as he carried Eloise on his back. Ditto slid up onto Eloise and took the place of her hair ribbon like he would usually do. Emily Elizabeth appeared to be there with her friends already. 

"There's Clifford's girl." Dot noticed.

"Let's go say hi." Scruffy smiled.

"Buddy system!" Estelle called out with a small smile.

"You are such a mom." Vincent laughed at his sister.

"So, who's going to be with who?" Jenny asked.

"Uhh..." Estelle scratched her head. "Hold on a second."

Emily Elizabeth laughed as she was with her friends, then looked down to see three familiar puppies. "Oh, hey, little guys!"

Scruffy, Dot, and Weenie smiled up to the blonde girl.

"Where do you think they came from?" A Jamacian boy asked.

"They better not have fleas..." the black-haired girl winced.

Scruffy huffed at that since he knew that he his sister and Weenie didn't have fleas. Dot and Weenie pouted to the black-haired girl.

Emily Elizabeth smiled to the puppies and looked over to Akito, Estelle, and Eloise. "Oh, are these yours?"

"Yes, that's Weenie, Scruffy, and Dot." Eloise smiled.

"I wonder how they got away from us?" Estelle said as Teddy hid behind her.

"They must be really excited." Akito suggested.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" the black-haired girl asked Eloise.

"Probably," Eloise shrugged. "My mother used to live in Paris by herself and worked in the fashion industry."

"Really?" The black-haired girl smiled.

Eloise nodded.

"Who's your mother?" the black-haired girl asked.

"Darla Fudo." Eloise replied.

This caused for the black-haired girl to squeal out of excitement.

"I guess she's a fan of Aunt Darla." Akito said as he gave a small pet to Scruffy as he liked Emily Elizabeth so far.

"I'm her #1 fan." The black-haired girl smiled.

"Um... Well, that's nice to know." Eloise said.

"My name's Jetta Handover..." the black-haired girl shook the blonde girl's hand quickly. "Is your mother here?!"

"Actually, she--" Eloise tried to explain.

"Oh, I hope she's here so then I can get to know the next week's fashion." Jetta smiled.

"Actually--" Eloise tried again.

"I mean, it must be so cool to have her as a mom," Jetta beamed. "I wish she was my mom, not that there's anything wrong with my mom, I mean, my dad travels all the time too, but it'd be great to have a true fashionista in the family!"

"She isn't exactly here." Eloise said.

"What?" Jetta asked.

"She's spending some time with my daddy, so I'm here with my cousins." Eloise smiled.

"Oh...." Jetta frowned.

"Uh, yeah, sorry..." Eloise smiled apologetically.

"Well, at least her daughter is here." Jetta said.

"I suppose so..." Eloise shrugged to that.

"Hi, I'm Charley." the dark-skinned boy smiled.

"Nice to meet you." Estelle said.

"Yeah." Akito smiled.

"Welcome to Birdwell Island," Charley smiled. "You should meet my dad, he makes great food during events like parties or boardwalks."

"We'll try his food sometime." Vincent said.

"I hope the show starts soon," Emily Elizabeth said. "I heard Mrs. Diller and Sheriff Lewis are bringing their dogs too."

"Well, maybe while we're waiting, we could go on one of the rides." Jenny said.

"Oh, can we?!" Eloise beamed.

"Go nuts." Drell replied as he parked himself on a bench.

"Yay!" The kids cheered.

Drell smiled to them as they then rushed off to hang out together until the show would start. Skippy then teleported himself over and crossed his arms, then gestured to the kids in worry.

"Ah, they'll be fine on their own..." Drell shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Skippy narrowed his eyes at him. Drell leaned back and relaxed. Skippy shook his head and pulled on Drell to make him stand up.

"Oh, come on, they're kids; how much trouble could they get into?" Drell asked.

Skippy's eyes only widened as he expected the worst to come out from the children of Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Forte, and Darla. Drell then went wide eyed as well, remembering them when they were younger. Skippy then grinned darkly slightly.

"We better go keep an eye on them." Drell said.

Skippy nodded until his eyes widened at the 'we' part.

"Hey, you brought yourself here," Drell dragged him. "You're gonna help me."

Skippy begged to not as he felt trapped. 

"Sorry, Skippy, but it's just business." Drell replied as he carried Skippy against his will.

"What to ride?" Estelle pondered.

"Mama, can we go on this one?" Teddy pointed to a carousal. 

"It looks like Aunt Rarity's shop." Estelle smiled.

"Yeah, it really does." Akito smiled back in agreement.

"Okay, let's go on this ride." Felicity said.

The vendor let the kids go ride on the carousal and let it spin once they were all on.

"Wahoo!" The kids cheered.

The kids laughed and giggled as they rode on the horses with their respective Pokemon. The vendor looked curious of the Pokemon, but allowed them on the ride just this once.

"Yay!" The Pokémon cheered.

"This reminds me of that story where when Aunt Danielle went with Uncle Copper and Uncle Tod to that carnival." Scruffy spoke up as they watched their humans go around and around and around. 

"It looks like fun!" Kiki jumped up and down. "Uncle Oliver, I wanna go next!"

"I'm sorry, Kiki, but I'm afraid only humans are allowed on rides," Oliver said. "The vendor is just making an exception for the Pokémon." 

"Aww..." Kiki pouted.

Oliver pouted too before smiling. "But you can ride on my back?" 

"YEAH!" Kiki jumped on the orange kitten's back right away.

Oliver was happy that he was able to make Kiki happy. Kiki giggled as she rode on Oliver's back. Georgette smiled as Oliver was making Kiki happy.

"He seems like a nice kitten." Cleo said.

"Yeah, I guess I misjudged him." Georgette agreed.

"You did?" Cleo asked.

"I, uh, didn't really like him at first..." Georgette admitted.

"That's understandable, with dogs not liking cats and all." Cleo smiled.

"Exactly!" Georgette replied. "I don't understand how Alonzo and the others didn't mind him..."

"I'm not too crazy about cats either, but he's your family now and I expect you to be nice to him." Cleo warned her sister.

"I am nice to him." Georgette said.

"Good." Cleo smiled.

"Mostly," Georgette smiled shyly. "He did defend me once when we had a crazy adventure with some zoo animals."

"That was nice of him." Cleo smiled.

"Yeah..." Georgette smiled back.

After the carousal the kids then went with their Pokemon onto a Ferris Wheel.

"Yay!" Teddy smiled.

"Hold on, Teddy, I don't want you to fall out." Estelle said as she hooked on her seat-belt and hooked his on.

Teddy smiled and looked around as they were going up and down.

"Ooh." The Ralts twins smiled.

Jenny and Vincent's hands seemed to touch in their cart, and where Vulpix was in the middle. He smirked and moved their hands closer together before cupping his muzzle with his frontal paws and snickering quietly. Vincent and Jenny both blushed a bit. Vulpix smiled up to them. Vincent and Jenny smiled to each other and looked like they were about to kiss. Vulpix soon covered his eyes so he wouldn't be disgusted. There was then a smooching sound heard.

"Yuck," Vulpix muttered before then soon felt them kiss him on the face cheeks. The Fire Fox Pokemon blinked and saw that Jenny and Vincent had kissed his cheeks. "Maaawm! Daaaad!"

This caused Vincent and Jenny to laugh a little.

"Hmph..." Vulpix pouted and folded his frontal paws.

"Silly Vulpix." Vincent chuckled.

Jenny soon giggled a little.

Vulpix pouted to them, but then nuzzled against them.

Soon enough, the Ferris Wheel stopped.

"Okay, we got time for one more ride." Eloise said.

"Ooh, I know just the ride." Charley smiled.

"Lead the way, Charley." Emily Elizabeth smiled to her best friend so they could show their new friends around.

Charley soon lead them all to a ride that looked like it could make anyone that didn't have a strong stomach lose their lunch.

"Are you sure about this?" Jetta sounded nervous.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Charley insisted before smirking to their new friends playfully. "So, you guys up for it?"

"You know it." Akito smirked back playfully.

"Mama..." Teddy whimpered.

"Oh, Teddy, there, there, you don't have to go if you don't want to." Estelle soothed.

"Thank you, Mama." Teddy smiled.

Estelle smiled back to her Teddiursa and held onto him. "You guys go ahead, we'll wait right here."

"You sure, Sis?" Vincent asked.

"Pretty sure, you guys go ahead, I'll just wait here with Teddy." Estelle promised.

"Okay." Vincent said.

"I think this time me and the others are going to step out of this one." Larvitar added.

"Okay, if you're sure." Charley said as he went ahead with Jetta and Emily Elizabeth.

"Did Charley just agree with whatever that is since we can't understand what any of them other than Akito and the others are saying?" Jetta asked Emily Elizabeth.

Emily Elizabeth suggested.

"I didn't understand him, I just think he's staying behind because Akito isn't going either." Charley told the girls.

"Ohh." Jetta and Emily Elizabeth understood then.

They soon went on the ride. Akito gently patted Larvitar on the head.

"Let's watch how it goes on Clifford." Scruffy said.

"Could he even fit?" Kiki wondered as she stood close to them so she wouldn't get lost.

"I think he means watch how the ride works from above it." Jenny said.

"Oh." Kiki understood then.

Vincent was going on the ride, looking rather sure of himself.

"Oh, Vincent, please, I only have one brother!" Akito called.

"Oh, please, I'm sure this ride is safe." Vincent said.

"Okay, but if you don't make it, could I have some of your pictures from your 'Flashlight Under the Blanket' series?" Akito smiled sheepishly.

Vincent narrowed his eyes. "Sure, why not?" he then deadpanned.

"Thanks!" Akito smiled.

Vincent rolled his eyes and joined Emily Elizabeth, Charley, and Jetta. The others soon got on Clifford. Clifford smiled as he let them ride on his back. The ride that Vincent, Emily Elizabeth, Jetta, and Charley were on soon started to spin around. Some of the people screamed from the ride as they spun around and around and around. Teddy buried his face in Estelle's shirt and she held him while stroking the back of his head. Clifford started to get dizzy as he watched the right going around and around and around.

"Clifford, I think you should stop looking right at them." Scruffy said with a paw to his muzzle.

"I think you're right, Scruffy." Clifford said as his eyes continued to follow the ride's rotation.

Kiki climbed up to the top of Clifford's head and closed the big red dog's eyes.

"Thanks, um, what's your name?" Clifford asked while his eyes were closed.

"I'm Kiki!" the tiny poodle smiled. "You know my Aunt Cleo."

"Oh, yeah," Clifford smiled while his eyes were closed. "Well, thanks Kiki for closing my eyes."

Kiki giggled. "Sure!"

The others smiled to Kiki as she interacted with Clifford.

After the ride was over...

The people who went on the ride cme out and some wobbled due to how fast they were going with the spinning, and where Jetta was one of them. 

"You guys okay?" Charley asked.

"Can somebody please stop spinning the fairground?" Vincent asked.

"I think I'm done with rides that spin." Jetta groaned.

"I know how you feel..." Felicity replied.

"Now let's get to the show." Akito said.

"Looks like a good time to go." Emily Elizabeth agreed.

"Which way do we go again?" Eloise asked.

"This way." Charley led the way.

"Lead the way." Estelle said.

Charley took them over to the tent where the show of Larry's Amazing Animals would be.

Scruffy, Dot, and Weenie smiled as they and the other pets would be allowed in as pets seemed to be really best friends to humans on this island. Georgette met T-Bone and was now going with him and her sister to join the show, but she looked a little worried because she didn't know where Kiki was, but trusted the others to keep an eye on her.

"Mama, I'm up here!" Kiki called down from Clifford's head.

"Kiki?" Georgette looked over.

"Hey, Big Guy." Cleo smiled to the big red dog who was a good friend of hers.

"Hey, Cleo, where's T-Bone?" Clifford asked since he didn't see T-Bone with them.

Cleo looked around. "He was right here, I let him meet Georgette..."

"I think I saw him go and grab something to eat." Georgette said.

"Sounds like T-Bone to me," Clifford laughed. "Hope he doesn't miss the show."

T-Bone soon enough came back with a sandwich in his mouth.

"There you are, T-Bone." Cleo said.

"Yeah, you almost missed the show." Clifford added in.

"Sorry, but I needed a pre-show meal." T-Bone muffled, and he then then ate the whole sandwich in one gulp before belching.

Kiki giggled.

"Uh, 'scuse me." T-Bone smiled sheepishly after he finished the sandwich.

"Reminds me of Uncle Rolly." Scruffy laughed with his sister who agreed with him 100% there.

"Come on, we don't wanna miss the show." Snow White said.

The pets, Pokemon, and kids then went into the big tent to see the show up close.


	6. Chapter 6

"This is going to be exciting." Dot said.

"I'm so excited, my whole body's shaking, especially my tail." Scruffy said.

"I'll say!" Snow White yelped as his tail seemed to be going so fast it was quite literally blowing her away.

"Oops, sorry." Scruffy smiled sheepishly as he stopped his tail.

Snow White blinked before shaking herself and got her fur straightened out while Oliver hid chuckles. "Oh, ha, ha, very funny." The white kitten said.

"Sorry, Snow," Oliver chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, you should've seen my fur when I first met Dodger and he got me wet and I chased him through an open vent. Now that was a bad fur day."

Snow White started to giggle as she could imagine it. Oliver smiled once he could make her feel better.

"You remind me of my brother, he was always quite the jokester." Snow White giggled to her boyfriend.

"Really?" Oliver asked.

Vincent soon saw a mouse running along.

"Yeah, and--" Snow White was about to continue.

"A mouse!" Vincent pointed to the rodent. "Get it, Snow White!"

"Get it, Vincent." Snow White merely deadpanned like she didn't care.

"Is that your answer for whenever Vincent sees a mouse?" Oliver asked.

"Yes." Snow White smirked.

"Wow." Oliver said.

"Come on, let's go see this show." Snow White said.

Oliver nodded and followed her so they could see 'Larry's Amazing Animals'.

"I can't wait to see how strong he is." Scruffy said, referring to the chihuahua on the poster.

"Hello there, ladies and gentlemen," a man came on the stage and a spotlight shined on him. "My name is Larry Gablegobble. I'm proud to present to you the most amazing animals you will ever see under one roof!"

There was then a drum roll as kids, pets, and Pokemon looked very excited in anticipation of the event.

"And now, I present to you, a powerhouse pooch, a musclebound mutt, a rippin' rover: Rodrigo, Chihuahua of Steel!" the man introduced and the curtains drew back to show the tiny dog with a huge weight in front of him.

This caused for most of the audience to laugh a little. Emily Elizabeth gave a small smile while Jetta looked not amused.

"Don't let his size fool ya, folks," Larry said as he pet the tiny dog on the head as he then flexed his arms. "He may be small, but this pup packs a punch!"

"Yeah, but not as much as Scruffy." Estelle whispered.

Akito chuckled in agreement. Music then played for Rodrigo as he was then about to lift the weight.

"Come on," Scruffy smiled quietly. "Come on."

Rodrigo grabbed a hold of the weight as everyone leaned in to watch, but he didn't appear to be as strong as Larry made him sound to be. He then lifted up the weight, but he saw a boy eating a hot dog with relish which made him instantly hungry, but it also caused him to lose his balance.

"Uh-oh." Scruffy whispered.

Akito soon secretly used a spell to make it look like Rodrigo wasn't losing his balance. Rodrigo stumbled, but then stopped after the spell was cast and he lifted the weight, but not by much. He clearly wasn't as strong as he was said to be. He then put down the weight and smiled to the crowd until the curtains closed on him and the audience was not impressed by much.

"That was, um....Interesting." Akito said.

"Uh... Yeah..." Eloise winced. "It was just like the time when Nanny and Sir Wilkes took us to the circus."

"Yeah." Vincent said.

"He wasn't really good." Kiki said honestly.

"Kiki, that wasn't very nice." Georgette warned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mama." Kiki frowned.

"Well, maybe the next act will be better." Oliver said.

Larry then introduced Dirk the 'Extreme' Dachshund. Dirk was on top of a skating ramp with a helmet and goggles as he was going to show a skate stunt. He waved to the crowd as he cranked up his sport vehicle to show them all what he could do.

"Ooh." Dot smiled.

Dirk fastened his goggles and then went down the ramp. Clifford looked jaw-dropped with the others as they saw this dog in action. Unfortunately for Dirk, the rocket seemed to go faster than he anticipated and he zipped around the loop and crashed into Larry's straw hat as the human ducked in time.

"Well, that was an experience that we'll never forget." Estelle said.

"Poor Dirk..." Dot frowned as the daushand flew all around and hit against the edges and some of the kids screamed out.

"Wow." Snow White said.

Oliver face-pawed and shook his head.

"Maybe the next one will be better?" Kiki shrugged.

"I dunno anymore, Kiki." Cleo said to her niece.

"They're down to one act." Akito said.

"At least this show didn't cost money, otherwise I would skitter over to that man and tell him 'I am Eloise and I would like a refund for this 'rawther' terrible show, thank you very much'!" Eloise complained.

"The next act involves a cow and a whatever that is." Vincent said.

"I think Mr. Larry called him a ferret." Vulpix replied.

The blue ferret put down his cape and came in on a trapeze which actually looked promising for the children.

"Finally, some action!" Jenny smiled.

"Yes!" Vincent smiled back.

The ferret jumped in the air and did a spin in the air before grabbing onto the next trapeze. He went upside down and did even more flips which amazed the kids as Dorothy the Cow was balancing on the tightrope.

"Nothing could ruin this performance." Estelle said.

The ferret then ended his bit with a landing on the cow's head. This really impressed the kids now.

"Catch, Shackleford!" Larry smiled as he threw up juggling pins to the ferret.

"Let's see if he catches them." Scruffy said.

The ferret reached out to catch the pins as he balanced on the cow's head.

"Amazing." Oliver smiled.

"That sure is." Kiki added.

Dot's tail began to twitch. "Uh-oh.... Something is about to happen." She frowned.

"What makes you say that?" Kiki asked Dot.

"My tail just twitched," Dot said. "Whenever my tail twitches, something happens and I have a bad feeling that Dorothy has a fear of heights." 

"Ooh..." Kiki replied. "Uh, that's a strange thing."

Dot bit her lip nervously for Dorothy. The cow soon nervously crossed the tightrope as she tried not to look down which often made those afraid of heights even more scared and nervous. One boy was so astonished that he let go of his balloon.

"Uh-oh, that might give her a hint that she's up too high." Scruffy said.

And where Scruffy was right. Dorothy smiled at the balloon at first. The boy then cried about losing his balloon which soon made Dorothy look down, and the ferret began to worry while juggling his pins on her back.

"Oh, no, that's not good...." Dot frowned. "I can't watch."

"I can!" Scruffy grinned.

Dot glared to her brother.

"Uh, right, too soon." Scruffy smiled nervously.

"His acting is just brilliant!" Cleo smiled as she thought it was all part of the show, and T-Bone nodded in agreement.

"I don't think they're acting." Georgette frowned.

Dorothy even looked like she was going to throw up. Shackleford tried to keep a hold of his pins only to drop them. 

"Is this supposed to happen?" Estelle wondered.

"I'm not sure that's supposed to happen." Akito said to his twin sister.

Dorothy soon grabbed a hold of the rope, but due to her weight, it made a peg come loose from the ground, and the cow and the ferret hung upside down as it was going to collapse while the kids watched in suspense. Rodrigo growled as he soon came behind the peg and bit on the rope to keep it in balance with his strength. Scruffy soon rushed to the peg until he saw a familiar older Dalmatian coming to Rodrigo's aid.

"Gracias, mi amigo." Rodrigo muffled to the help.

"You're welcome." Patch replied.

"Dad?" Scruffy asked with a bewildered smile.

"Missed us?" Colette smiled back to their strongest pup.

"Well, a little," Scruffy smiled back. "Just surprised you're here, Mom."

"Yeah, what're you guys doing here?" Dot asked as she came to see their parents.

"We finished our Pound Puppy mission early and teleported here." Colette smiled.

"Aw, Mama~" Dot smiled back as she nuzzled to her mother.

"I gotcha, Dorothy!" Larry called out as he ran around on stage to get ready to catch the acrophobic cow.

"Does he really think he'll handle her weight?" Estelle asked.

"Oh, this is gonna suck..." Felicity groaned as she covered her eyes and shook her head in dismay.

"I can't watch." Vincent said.

Larry touched Dorothy until Patch was able to keep the rope down and Colette pushed down the peg and tied a knot since she was a familiar and had thumbs like all familiars did so they could assist with magic.

"And done." Colette smiled.

"Way to go, Colette," Patch smiled back. "You were an excellent help."

"Thanks, Patch." Colette beamed.

"It's all right, everybody," Larry smiled nervously. "It's all under control, folks."

"Is he sure?" Jenny asked.

"No need to panic." Larry smiled nervously.

"Wow, that was really--" Clifford smiled.

"Amazing!" Cleo beamed as she did a flip out of excitement. "They were unbelievable! They were stupendous! They were--"

"Really good!" T-Bone smiled to her.

"Yeah, they really were." Kiki agreed.

"It really was a unique show." Georgette had to admit.

"Especially since Mom and Dad helped save the act." Scruffy commented.

"You said it, guys!" Clifford smiled to his fellow dogs.

"Oh, before anything else, we must introduce you to our parents." Dot said.

"Let's meet these folks." Cleo smiled as she stood beside her sister.

Patch and Colette soon came over to the group.

"Everyone, these are mine and Scruffy's parents," Dot introduced. "Colette the cocker spaniel and Patch the Dalmatian."

"It's nice to meet you all." Colette smiled.

"Hard to believe a dog like you exists," Patch looked up to Clifford. "Seems like something you'd hear in folktales like Paul Bunyan."

"It's nice to meet you guys too," Clifford smiled. "And thank you, Emily Elizabeth told me that her love for me helped me grow, we used to live in the city, but since I got so big, we had to move to Birdwell Island."

"Though moving can be its own adventure." Patch said.

"They do say that." Clifford admitted.

"Hey, guys, why don't we go back and get their autographs?" Cleo suggested.

"Or we could get them to sign something for us?" T-Bone smiled.

"It is." Cleo rolled her eyes.

"Oh, well, good idea then, Cleo." Clifford smiled to the energetic poodle.

"Let's go meet them." Scruffy said.

"Stick together now." Colette reminded.

"We will, Mom." Scruffy and Dot promised.

Patch and Colette smiled to their puppies as they went to meet Larry's Amazing Animals.

"This is so exciting." Kiki smiled.

Clifford soon poked his head out through the tent with a smile. "Hello there!"

Shackleford soon yelped and ran away in fear of the big red dog.

"Uh, Clifford, I don't think he's met a big dog like you before." Scruffy said.

"I tend to get that a lot." Clifford admitted.

"I believe it." Scruffy said.

The animals soon panicked and hid away from the giant red colored labrador retriever. 

"Oh, please, don't eat me!" Shackleford yelped as he hid in a chest while holding a vinyl record. "I'm just a ferret! There's no good meat on me!"

"I don't wanna eat you." Clifford smiled.

"No?" Shackleford asked. "Then what you want?"

"Your autographs." Dot said.

"Our what?" Shackleford replied.

"All of yours if you don't mind," Clifford nodded. "You guys are incredible!"

"There you are!" Cleo smirked to the big red dog. "Man, and I thought Kiki was hard to keep track of."

Kiki seemed to giggle as she came to her aunt's side.

"What is your name?" Rodrigo smiled to the company.

"Clifford," The big red dog smiled. "And this is Cleo, and T-Bone."

The rest of the pets and Pokemon soon introduced themselves.

"We loved the show!" Cleo gushed. "Phenomenal!"

"Super-Duper-Riffic!" T-Bone added.

"By the way, nice hair." Georgette smirked to the ferret as he still had a pink wig on his head.

Shackleford saw the wig and soon quickly removed it. 

"You must all lead such exciting lives." Weenie smiled.

"Well, I don't think we particularly--" Dorothy smiled shyly.

"You must get to see lots of famous people." Dot smiled.

"Of course we do!" Shackleford smiled back. "Between the shows, the travel, the crowds of adoring fans! Yeah, it's pretty cool."

This amazed the others instantly.

"How 'bout you guys?" Shackleford asked. "You in the biz?"

"Not really." Scruffy said.

"Well, I don't like to brag or anything, but it's often been said that I do have, oh, ya know, talent." Cleo smirked as she fluffed up her fur.

"It runs in the family." Georgette agreed with her sister.

"I caught my tail!" Kiki muffled as she caught her tail in her mouth.

"Uh, yeah, I kinda picked up on that vibe," Shackleford replied rather disinterested. "So, would y'all be interested in joining our cast?"

"Um, sure, but do you see these collars on our necks?" Scruffy asked.

"Well, yeah?" Shackleford asked. "What about 'em?"

"Uh, nothing." Scruffy said.

"So, um, you want us to be in your show?" Clifford asked the blue ferret.

"That's just the beginning," Shackleford smiled. "I'm talking about TV! Have you guys ever heard of Tummy Yummies?"

"Heard of 'em?" Scruffy smiled back. "We love 'em!"

"Oh, it's my favorite!" Clifford beamed as he licked his lips hungrily. 

"Well, check this out," Shackleford chuckled as he brought out a poster for them to see. "We're having a talent contest in three weeks. The winners get fame, fortune, and a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies!"

"This must be a dream!" Dot beamed.

Scruffy looked around before smiling. "No, it's not a dream, 'cuz the Road Rovers and PAW Patrol are in all of my dreams."

"Of course they are." Dot rolled her eyes playfully.

"Oh, thank you, but we could never--" Georgette began.

"Just pass up an offer like this!" Cleo chuckled in excitement. "Right, guys? Definitely, offer right now, guys. We'll be right back."

"Aunt Cleo?" Kiki asked.

"Come on, let's discuss this." Cleo said as she led them outside the tent.

"Cleo, I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no." Georgette told her sister.

"Aw, come on, why not?" Cleo asked.

"We have owners to think about." Georgette said.

"She's right," Clifford agreed. "I'd never leave Emily Elizabeth."

"Or Sheriff Lewis." T-Bone added.

"Jenny would be devastated without us." Oliver said about himself and Georgette.

"And I can't just leave Eloise." Weenie said.

"Cleo, what about Mrs. Diller?" Georgette reminded her sister about her owner.

"You'd really miss her." Dot added.

"Gee, I hadn't thought about that," Cleo replied. "It's just... It all seems so exciting!"

"Yeah, but if we did join them, we'd have to leave our owners and their families." Scruffy said.

"So, uh, is there a problem?" Shackleford asked as he came out with the other animals.

"Sorry, guys, it sounds like fun, but we're sticking around here," Clifford smiled apologetically. "But thanks anyway."

"Yeah, we just, um, have personal things here." Scruffy said.

"Hey, guys, wait!" Shackleford stopped them and held out the poster. "Take this little souvenir with ya. A-A-And in case you change your mind, we'll be on PT's Carnival tomorrow night on the Mableham."

"Thanks." Cleo replied as she put the poster into the fur on her head like a secret compartment.

"We'll keep it in mind." Dot said.

"I'm sure we'll see you guys again next year." Weenie added as they left.

The other animals called back to them as they soon went to get home since it was quite dark.

"Well, we better get back to our temporary home." Dot stretched.

"Yeah..." Scruffy added with a yawn. "I'm so tired right now."

"It's so quiet here," Weenie said. "How's anyone supposed to sleep without car horns or pigeons when they go to sleep?"

"You've been in the city too long." Oliver chuckled.

"Yes," Weenie nodded. "Yes, I have."

They soon all split up to go to their new temporary vacation homes to get some sleep after a big and exciting day at the carnival.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day soon came. It was a typical morning for everybody. Emily Elizabeth soon woke up to feed Clifford his breakfast. Of course, Clifford was already awake. This of course, wasn't a surprise.

"I'll be down in a minute, okay, pal?" Emily Elizabeth smiled to her dog while petting his nose before going back inside to get ready for the day.

Patch, Colette, Scruffy, and Dot were soon told the same thing. Estelle was getting dressed and ready normally while Akito zipped around with super-speed while she was slow due to not having the ability. 

"Your son should've been a Sonic Hero." Cherry teased Atticus.

"Yeah, yeah." Atticus rolled his eyes.

Scruffy, Dot, and Snow White ate their breakfast together while the kids then poured Pokemon food for their Pokemon. After finishing feeding and eating their food, the pets soon went to go and see Clifford. Snow White yawned as she sleepily followed after the other pets.

"Would you look at the size of that dog's breakfast..." The grouchy neighbor muttered as he raked leaves. 

"Morning, Mom, morning, Dad!" Emily Elizabeth smiled as she biked away after giving Clifford his food.

"Morning, Clifford." The dog family greeted.

"Oh, hey, guys," Clifford smiled. "Want some Tummy Yummies?"

"You know it." Scruffy smiled back.

"Go ahead, since he allowed you to." Colette smiled to the puppies.

"Thanks, Mom!" Scruffy and Dot beamed as they then joined Clifford.

"Morning, Clifford." Mrs. Howard smiled to the big red dog. 

Clifford barked to her as he ate his breakfast. The dog family barked to Mrs. Howard as the pups ate with Clifford.

"Good morning, Horace." Mr. Howard greeted the grouchy old neighbor.

"Oh, I just don't know how you do it here." Horace smiled to his neighbors.

The dog family was confused at what the older man meant.

"Do what?" Mr. Howard smiled.

"Feed that dog," Horace gestured to Clifford. "Look at him! He's got one big appetite."

"Big?" Mr. Howard chuckled. "It's huge!"

'That's a tad mean.' Scruffy thought to himself.

"How much does he eat a year?" Horace asked.

"Uh, well..." Mr. Howard smiled nervously.

"Clifford eats quite a lot." Mrs. Howard replied.

"I can't imagine trying to keep up with that appetite," Horace said which made Clifford feel bad. "I'll bet he eats more in a week than all the pets on Birdwell Island eat in a year!"

Scruffy glared at Horace for making his friend feel bad.

"Hmm... I'm not sure I like that man." Dot commented.

"I seem to always bring down Mr. Bleakman's mood." Clifford pouted.

"I'm sure you don't mean to." Colette assured the big red Labrador.

"I really don't," Clifford frowned. "I just feel like no matter what I do, he'll always be mad at me."

"Maybe he's not a dog person." Patch said.

Clifford whimpered to that.

"Aw, Clifford, don't feel down, some humans just don't like dogs," Colette coaxed. "It's not your fault though."

"Yeah." Scruffy added.

"I guess you guys are right..." Clifford frowned until he heard Horace said that feeding him was a big problem which caused him to run away from home.

"Clifford, come back!" Scruffy and Dot cried out. 

"Clifford, please stop!" Patch and Colette added in.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard then said that they loved Clifford even if feeding him was troublesome sometimes.

"Oh, if only he had heard that..." Patch sighed for the big red dog. 

'Maybe if he wasn't so big, then he'd be easy to catch up with.' Scruffy thought to himself.

One day that thought of his would come out loud and which would cause a fight to happen.

"Scruffy, I can't run as fast!" Dot pouted to her brother.

Snow White soon came out briefly and soon felt the ground shake, she looked up to see Clifford and mewed before running back inside to avoid being stomped on by him. After a while, she soon came back out. Scruffy and Dot soon ran over.

"Snow White, have you seen Clifford?" Scruffy asked.

"He just went that way." Snow White pointed behind her. 

"Thanks." Scruffy said before running off again.

"I need to rest a minute..." Dot groaned before falling flat beside Snow White.

"Clifford!" Scruffy cried out as he chased after the big red dog. "You are not a problem! Mr. Bleakman doesn't know what he's talking about!" 

Scruffy began to run even faster and was now starting to keep up with the big red dog. "Hey, Clifford, miss me?" he smiled to the big red dog.

Clifford soon stopped running out of shock. Scruffy winced at first, before smiling.

"Scruffy?" Clifford asked.

"Look, I know what Mr. Bleakman said, but you shouldn't let it hurt your feelings." Scruffy told the big red dog. 

"But if I wasn't so big, then I wouldn't be such a big problem for Emily Elizabeth and the Howards." Clifford frowned.

"Listen Clifford, you're not a big problem for them," Scruffy said. "And your size is perfect the way it is, but if you want to help them with get more Tummy Yummies, do you remember that poster?"

"I do..." Clifford nodded. 

"And remember the prize?" Scruffy asked.

"Yeah..." Clifford smiled. 

"So you see?" Scruffy smiled back.

"Then we have to join the carnival." Clifford told the smaller dog. 

"Yeah, but not forever," Scruffy said. "Just until we win the Tummy Yummies."

"Deal." Clifford nodded.

Scruffy nodded back.

"But first, we should tell Cleo and T-Bone," Clifford told him. "They're my best friends after all." 

"I agree, though along with my family." Scruffy replied.

"Okay, that sounds fair enough." Clifford admitted.

"But we'll have to leave later tonight." Scruffy said.

"Okay, let me just tell Cleo and T-Bone." Clifford replied.

"You got it, buddy." Scruffy nodded. 

Clifford soon went off to tell his two best friends. Scruffy then went to tell his family the same thing. 

"We better tell Atticus and the others." Colette said.

"Oh, here comes Scruffy now." Patch replied.

"Hey, Mom, hey, Dad!" Scruffy zipped by right in front of them. 

"Where have you been?" Dot asked.

"I had to stop Clifford," Scruffy replied. "Um, anyway, I'm going to join Larry's Amazing Animals."

"You will?" Dot pouted. "But... But... Scruffy, you're my brother!" 

"You're not going alone." Patch said.

"Well, I'll be with Clifford," Scruffy replied. "So, yeah, I won't be alone... Unless, that's not what you mean, Dad?" 

"We're coming with you." Patch said.

"Oh, I'm not sure, Mom and Dad," Scruffy replied. "Can you handle it?"

Patch and Colette gave long glances to their son.

"Uh, of course you can." Scruffy smiled nervously.

"We better tell Atticus and the others." Patch said.

"Yeah, so they don't worry about us." Scruffy agreed.

"I don't want Atticus to worry," Patch replied. "I still remember the time when I ran away, but at least I got to meet the Pound Puppies." 

"I heard everything." Atticus said.

"Don't you always?" Patch chuckled. "So, um, how do you feel about this then?"

"I saw this coming." Atticus said.

"So, you're okay by it?" Patch asked.

"I'm all right by it as long as you are," Atticus replied. "They're your children."

"I'm alright with it." Patch said.

"Okay, good deal then." Atticus nodded as they shook hands and paws like Masked Dog would with other people in the world where Rikochet, Buena Girl, and The Flea came from.

"We'll leave later tonight." Patch said.

Georgette walked with Kiki so they could go visit Cleo and saw that she was talking with Clifford and T-Bone.

"What's going on, Mama?" Kiki asked.

"Looks like they're talking." Georgette told Kiki.

Cleo came over. 

"Cleo, what happened?" Georgette asked.

"Clifford is leaving us!" Cleo told her.

"What?!" Georgette gasped.

"He just told me and T-Bone," Cleo nodded. "He's leaving first thing tomorrow."

"I miss him already." T-Bone drooped his tiny ears.

"We can't just let him leave." Kiki frowned.

"What can we do though?" T-Bone frowned back to the tiny poodle puppy. "He seems to had already made up his mind."

"I'm really gonna miss the big guy." Cleo sulked since Clifford was her best friend.

"Why don't we go with him?" Kiki asked.

"Oh, I dunno, you remember what he said last night..." Cleo replied.

"Kiki, I'm not sure if joining the carnival life is a good idea," Georgette sighed. "I worry enough about your father when he goes on missions with your Uncles Dodger, Einstein, Francis, and Aunt Rita."

"But I'm sure it won't be that long." Kiki said.

"Kiki, I don't know if you're ready..." Georgette frowned. "You're only a puppy..."

"Do you wanna come with me, Mama?" Kiki asked before going into a begging position. "Por favor can I go?~"

"Uh-oh." Cleo smirked playfully.

"I don't know if you're ready, Kiki, maybe another time." Georgette sighed to her daughter. She soon saw her daughter bring out the puppy dog eyes.

Cleo smirked to that.

"Oh, Kiki, don't look at me like that..." Georgette tried to ignore it. "That doesn't work on me."

Kiki even whimpered as she wanted to go with the other pets with Clifford to be in Larry's Amazing Animals. After a short time, Georgette gave in. 

"Oh, all right, fine!" she then whined slightly. "Kiki, you can join the show."

"Yay!" Kiki cheered.

Georgette sighed as she felt like she should've seen that coming.

Later that night, the plan was set for all of the pets.

Eloise brought out the bone from her roast beef for dinner and gave it to her dog. "Here you go, Weenie."

"Thanks, Eloise." Weenie said.

Eloise smiled and pet him as she then went to brush her teeth since she finished dinner.

"Eloise, phone for you." Drell told the girl.

Eloise then took the phone. "Hello, it's me, Eloise...' she then smiled brightly once she heard who was on the other end. "Hi, Nanny!"

'How is everything on Birdwell island?' Nanny asked from the other end.

"Oh, it's absolutely wonderful, Nanny," Eloise smiled. "We saw this show with animals! There was a juggling ferret, a cow on a tightrope, and there were two dogs! One of them was skateboarding and the other one lifted weights!"

'That is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.' Nanny smiled.

"It really was, Nanny!" Eloise smiled back. "I wish you could've seen it! It was a lot more fun than the circus you and Sir Wilkes took me to!"

'Oh, I'm sure it was.' Nanny smiled.

Drell smiled as Eloise and Nanny talked before he collapsed into a chair. "Great, Eloise and Nanny will be talking for ages, maybe now I can get a nap..." he then yawned before falling asleep.

The phone call went on for a while until it was time for Eloise to get some sleep.

"Well, sweetie, I'd love, love, love to hear more, but it's about time for you go to bed." Nanny smiled as she curled the phone cord in her fingertips.

'Aw, Nanny...' Eloise's voice pouted.

Nanny's older brother chuckled as Nanny talked with her charge on the phone.

"Now, come, come, come on, you know that you need your sleep." Nanny said.

"Okay, Nanny..." Eloise replied before she let out a yawn as if on cue. "I love you, Nanny."

"Sweet dreams, my pet, you have a good, good, good night's rest~" Nanny cooed before she hung up the phone with a smile.

Eloise soon hung up her phone. She then yawned and stretched while going to get ready for bed and slipped off her slippers, she would've put on her Do Not Disturb sign, but Nanny told her to leave it back at their suite at the Plaza on the door since they were both gone. Weenie continued to gnaw on his roast beef bone until he saw Scruffy and Dot sneaking out, and where he snuck over to them. Drell snored as he soon fell asleep in his chair while Eloise eventually went to sleep herself for a change instead of planning under the covers with a flashlight.

"Hey, boy, you get a good night's sleep, okay?" Emily Elizabeth smiled to her big red dog as she came to him in his doghouse and comforted him. 

"Okay!" Clifford barked to her.

"I love you, Clifford." Emily Elizabeth smiled and kissed him good night, and was on the way to her bedroom.

Clifford whimpered at first.

"One more?" Emily Elizabeth giggled to her pet.

Clifford nodded.

"Okay," Emily Elizabeth smiled and then kissed his muzzle. "You're the best, Clifford."

Clifford smiled as he saw her go back inside the house for the night, though still felt bad about what Mr. Bleakman said earlier that day. He soon saw Akito flying up to Emily Elizabeth's room with a potion. This made him do a double take.

Emily Elizabeth yawned as she got in her pajamas and was about to get into bed until she heard a knock at her bedroom window which made her gasp slightly in surprise until she opened it up.

"Evening, Emily Elizabeth." Akito greeted the blonde girl.

"You're our new neighbor, aren't you?" Emily Elizabeth asked before noticing he had a potion. 

"This is for you." Akito said.

"Oh, thanks," Emily Elizabeth replied as she accepted the potion. "Uh, what is it?"

"It's a special potion," Akito smiled before feeling like he forgot something. "Um, mind if I have that potion back for a moment?"

"Sure," Emily Elizabeth replied as she gave it back. "As long as you want it back, I would never keep anything for good if someone else asked me for it."

Akito soon opened the flax before sniffing it before realizing something. "Aha," he soon smiled. "Now I know what I forgot."

"Um, what are you doing?" Emily Elizabeth curiously asked.

"I forgot one ingredient." Akito told her.

"And what would that be?" Emily Elizabeth wondered.

Akito soon took a lock of hair from Emily Elizabeth. "A lock of hair from a beautiful girl." He said before grinding the lock of her and pouring the grinded lock of hair into the potion before stirring it gently so the blonde girl wouldn't choke or get sick.

Emily Elizabeth touched her own hair and watched Akito before rubbing her eyes wearily. Was she already dreaming?

"That should do it." Akito smiled once he finished up the potion. He soon stood up with the potion in his hands and gave it back to her.

"What does this potion do, um, Akito?" Emily Elizabeth asked as she took the potion back.

"After drinking it, you can talk to animals." Akito said.

"Talk to animals?" Emily Elizabeth asked. "Is that even possible?"

"It will be if you drink that." Akito nodded.

"Um, w-well, okay." Emily Elizabeth said before drinking the potion.

Akito smiled to her.

"That's an interesting taste..." Emily Elizabeth commented. "How do I know that this works?"

"Easy," Akito smiled before whistling. "Clifford, could you come over here?!"

Clifford yawned and soon came to the house with a smile.

"Cliiiifford, can you unnnderstaaaand meeee?" Emily Elizabeth asked her big red dog.

"Yeeeeees..." Clifford told her, speaking to her and she could even understand him. "Emily Elizabeth, why are we talking like this?"

"I-It really works!" Emily Elizabeth smiled.

"What works?" Clifford asked.

"Clifford, it was amazing," Emily Elizabeth told her dog. "Akito gave me this potion, and now I can talk to you and any other animal!"

"That's amazing." Clifford smiled.

"I better get some sleep, boy," Emily Elizabeth smiled back. "I'll see you in the morning."

Clifford soon smiled sadly without her noticing. Akito was about to fly off.

"By the way, um, Akito, did you really mean it when you said that I was beautiful?" Emily Elizabeth asked.

"Well, you are beautiful," Akito replied. "And such a sweet girl."

"No one's ever called me that before," Emily Elizabeth smiled. "Well, my parents, yeah, but besides them and my relatives."

"Well, you really should hear it more often." Akito smiled back. 

"Most people in my class think Jetta is pretty..." Emily Elizabeth shrugged. "But, thank you, Akito."

"Well, good night." Akito smiled as he kissed her cheek before flying off and realizing what he did.

Emily Elizabeth blushed to that and even giggled as she collapsed onto her bed with a dreamy smile.

"Why did I do that?!" Akito asked out of shock once he was far enough away from Emily Elizabeth,

Clifford frowned as he went back to his doghouse while Emily Elizabeth was about to go to sleep. 

Akito soon came back home and felt weird about himself.

"Hey, kiddo, you okay?" Atticus asked as he came out with their luggage.

"Dad, I just kissed another girl!" Akito told his father. "I called her pretty, and I kissed her!"

"Deja vu." Cherry smirked to Atticus.

"Uh, bless you, Aunt Cherry." Akito said.

"No, your Aunt Cherry means something like this happened to us before." Atticus told Akito.

"Really?" Akito asked.

"Do you remember the story I told you and Estelle about when we went to Arendelle and met Queen Elsa and Princess Anna?" Atticus replied.

"Yeah?" Akito nodded.

"Well..." Atticus smiled bashfully. "I... Well... I..."

"He fell in love with Elsa." Cherry said for him.

"You what?!" Akito asked his father out of shock.

Atticus smiled nervously. "It's true... It was Elsa's coronation day, we were talking while Anna danced with The Duke of Weaselton."

"I thought it was Wesleton?" Cherry smirked.

"Do you wanna tell the story?" Atticus glanced at her.

"No, no, continue." Cherry said.

"Anyway..." Atticus told Akito. "Part of me kind of liked Elsa... I'm not sure how to explain it, but it was like there were two halves of me. One was in love with your mother of course, and the other one was in love with Elsa."

"So then I'm going through the same thing?" Akito asked.

"That's what it sounds like to me, son," Atticus nodded. "So tell me everything that happened."

"Well, see, it's like this..." Akito began to tell him everything that happened between him and Emily Elizabeth.

"Hmm... Somewhere in what you said reminds me of how Malchior tricked Raven into freeing him from the spell book." Cherry said.

"Pardon?" Akito asked. "Um... Raven... Raven Queen?"

"The other Raven," Cherry told him. "The Teen Titan I was closest to."

"Oh..." Akito replied before his eyes widened. "Oh! Did I do something bad?"

"No, no, unlike Malchior, I believe you must have been speaking from the heart." Cherry said.

"So, I did good?" Akito smiled.

"Yep." Atticus nodded.

"Oh, okay," Akito smiled. "Aunt Cherry, you worried me, I know how Raven from the Teen Titans can be from your stories." 

"Everything's pretty good unless Beast Boy has a prank or Trigon is around." Cherry told him.

"True." Akito nodded.

"Cherry and Raven sure were close even after that time in Tokyo when we got to meet her and the other Titans." Atticus smiled in memory.

Later on, everyone who wasn't asleep was soon then ready to leave. 

"Goodbye, Emily Elizabeth," Clifford frowned to his owner's bedroom window. "I'll come back to you soon. I promise." He soon left the residence.

Emily Elizabeth was sound asleep, but she could've sworn she heard Clifford's voice in her dream. And so, the big red dog left the Howard's residence and began to find the carnival before it would leave Birdwell Island, but he wouldn't be the only one. 

"Good night, Eloise," Weenie whimpered as he licked his owner's forehead and jumped off the bed and came to the turtle shell. "See ya, Skipperdee," he then sighed as he passed by the closed Pokeball as he walked out of the room. "Bon voyage, Ditto, I'll miss you all so, so, so much."

Scruffy was on his way out as he yawned and stretched before he looked in surprise to see that Snow White was playing with a mouse toy and wasn't sleeping, but looked more active. "Uh, Snow White?" he then spoke.

"Huh?" Snow White looked over. "Oh, hey, Scruffy. You're up late. I suppose you wanna chase me, but you might not wanna wake up anyone."

"Not exactly." Scruffy said.

"Oh, okay then... What's up?" Snow White asked as she continued to play with her mouse toy instead of sleeping like she did all day.

"Um, we're going with Clifford." Scruffy said.

"Oh, isn't it late for a dog meeting?" Snow White asked.

"Snow, it's personal..." Scruffy told her. "Um... It's dog business."

"You know, I think your dad said that kind of talk is what got Whopper of the original Pound Puppies in trouble." Snow White replied.

"Anyways, we'll be back as soon as we get the lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies for Clifford." Scruffy said.

"Okay, have fun." Snow White replied.

"It's a surprise to see you awake and playing." Scruffy smiled.

"I'm nocturnal," Snow White smiled back. "That means I'm active at night."

"Ohh." Scruffy said, now understanding.

"You have fun, okay?" Snow White smiled.

"Thanks, Snow White," Scruffy smiled back. "And, um, sorry for all those times I chased you for no reason, I just wanted you to get some exercise."

"I forgive you....." Snow White said before getting the feeling something was up. "Why does this sound like I won't be seeing you or the others for a few days?"

"We have to go, Snow White," Scruffy told the white kitten. "We have to help Clifford."

"Then I'm coming." Snow White said.

"Snow White, you don't have to." Scruffy told her.

"You're like a second brother." Snow White said.

"Aw, thanks..." Scruffy smiled. "You're not just saying that?"

"I'm not," Snow White raised her right paw. "Cat's honor, and I pray, hope, and wish upon The Cat Kingdom I wish to live in in the afterlife which may or may not exist, I could be just daydreaming about that movie The Cat Returns."

"Well, then you better start packing." Dot said.

Snow White dashed to her cat bed and brought out a bag of her toys along with her food bowl.

"All right," Scruffy replied. "Dot! Snow White is coming too."

"Wow, and she's even awake." Dot was impressed.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Scruffy asked.

"Let's go then." Snow White said.

"All aboard the Pup Express!" Dot beamed.

Scruffy and Dot then 'chugga'd' like a train with Snow White following them. Everyone was soon ready to go. They soon left while everyone else would stay behind and get some sleep right now.

As they left, it was turning into dusk as the leaves blew around as it was the season of Fall.

"It's so chilly." Estelle said.

"It is Fall..." Dot told her mistress.

Clifford soon stopped as he looked into the ocean as he was about to leave.

"We better get on your back, big guy." Atticus told Clifford.

"Hey, wait for us!" Cleo's voice called out.

Everyone turned around to soon see Cleo and T-Bone coming for their best friend.

"We're not gonna let you go on a great big adventure without us!" Cleo smiled.

"Alright, then come with us." Scruffy said.

"You guys would do that?" Clifford smiled to his friends. "For me?"

"Are you kidding?" Cleo smiled back. "We'd do anything for you, Clifford."

"Yeah!" T-Bone beamed before looking worried. "We'll be back soon anyway, right?"

"Don't worry, T-Bone, I doubt we'll be gone for long." Dot said.

"Are you guys sure you wanna do this?" Weenie asked the other two dogs.

"Absolutely!" Cleo beamed.

"Positively." T-Bone added.

"Great." Scruffy said.

"Come on!" Cleo smiled. "Let's get a move on! My fans are waiting~"

"All aboard the Clifford express!" Scruffy called out.

Clifford lay down in the sand so everyone could ride on his back. Everyone was soon there. 

"I call front!" Cleo giggled.

"Too late." Kiki giggled as she was on top of Clifford's head.

"Aw, no fair!" Cleo playfully pouted to her niece.

Once everyone was on his back, Clifford started walking. He walked into the ocean as they were on their way to a whole new adventure.


	8. Chapter 8

It was soon bright and early in the morning and Emily Elizabeth was beginning to wake up, and where she was feeling as light as a feather after what she experienced last night. She opened the curtains in excitement. "Good morning, Cliff--" 

No one was there much to her shock, so she opened the window and walked out to her balcony.

"Clifford?" Emily Elizabeth frowned only to see the doghouse empty. "I wonder where he is?" She then remembered what she heard last night.

'Goodbye, Emily Elizabeth, I'll come back to you soon, I promise.'

"So, it wasn't a dream..." Emily Elizabeth said to herself. "I really heard Clifford," She soon began to think of why Clifford said that. "Clifford left, but he said he'd come back... Where would he go?" Emily Elizabeth pondered as she decided to get dressed. 

Meanwhile, back with the others...

There were two men on the docks who were fishing as Clifford swam toward them. Seeing the big red dog bewildered them and shocked them. Clifford soon jumped out of the ocean and landed on the docks which frightened the fishermen since they had never seen him before.

"Um, hi." Atticus greeted the fishermen.

"Y-You know this beast?!" One man asked Atticus.

"He's not a beast," Atticus said. "He's a giant dog."

"Well, keep it away from us!" The first fisherman shivered with the other fisherman until they fell into the water together.

"Okay, okay." Atticus said.

"Why do people gotta judge?" Akito asked his father.

"That's just how some people are, son." Atticus sighed.

"That's unfair." Scruffy said.

"Sometimes life isn't fair," Atticus replied. "Cherry often said that, but she's right."

"Yeah." Mo nodded.

"I hope she'll be okay without us." Atticus said since Cherry didn't want to go and decided to try to relax back at the island for a change since she had been under a bit of stress lately.

"I'm sure she'll be okay." Mo said.

Cut to Cherry on the beach in her swimsuit as she sat in a chair with sunglasses, a floppy hat, and drinking a big drink and her legs crossed as she actually looked relaxed for the first time in almost 20 years, and where nothing would ruin her relaxation.

Back with the others again...

Atticus and Mo walked together while holding hands as they went into the city. Two people were sunbathing until they saw their sun was blocked by the big red dog which frightened them. Everyone on the beach soon screamed and ran away from the sight of Clifford.

"What's wrong with these guys?" Clifford frowned at the screaming public. "They look scared."

"Maybe they saw a shark in the water." T-Bone suggested.

"And to think we were just out there!" Cleo gasped out of fright. "Ooh, look at all the cars!" 

"Wow, and all the people..." Clifford said as he looked into the city with the others. "This... This looks almost like my old home with Daffodil." The mention of Daffodil caused memories to come back to him. He thought back to his puppy days.

He was best friends with two kittens owned by a man named Mr. Solomon who were named Flo and Zo. He even remembered a bird named Norville who was like a mentor for him. There was also Emily Elizabeth's best friend at the time with her dog named Jorge, and there was also the Sidarskis which was a mouse family who lived in the basement of their apartment building. He even had great times with a rabbit who was Daffodil. Until, one day seemed unlike any other.

"Come on, Daffodil, let's play." Puppy Clifford told the bunny.

"Not today, Clifford..." Daffodil sighed as she sounded sick and tired. "Maybe later..."

"Aw, well, okay." Clifford said.

Daffodil soon went to sleep while Clifford went off to play with the others.

"Are you okay, Daffodil?" Emily Elizabeth checked on her pet rabbit. "You don't look so good..." 

Daffodil looked up at Emily Elizabeth with bleary eyes. 

 

Clifford began to play with the kittens while Emily Elizabeth's mother called the vet.

"Is everything okay, Clifford?" Zo asked.

"Oh, it's just that Daffodil's been a lot tired lately, even more than usual," Clifford told the kittens. "She's always wanted to be by herself, but this time, she seems more distant than usual, she won't even eat her carrots."

"Really?" Flo asked. "That's weird."

"You're telling me." Clifford agreed as they played with his sock spider.

 

Unknown to him, this day would have a sad turning of events.

"Thanks for watching Clifford while we go to the vet, Nina," Emily Elizabeth told her best friend. "We'll be back later."

"No problem, Emily Elizabeth," Nina smiled. "Besides, Clifford and Jorge are almost like brothers."

And where they were right as Jorge and Clifford really did act like brothers. The little red puppy giggled as he ran to play with Jorge while Emily Elizabeth went with her parents to see the vet with a poor and sick Daffodil.

"So, what do wanna play today, Clifford?" Jorge asked his little brother figure.

"Hmm..." Clifford stopped to think.

"Clifford? Clifford!" Jorge repeated, now sounding a lot like Cleo.

Clifford was back in present day.

"Hey, big guy, anybody home?" Cleo waved her paw in front of Clifford's enormous eyes. "We gotta get moving if we want those Tummy Yummies!"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Clifford said softly as he kept walking.

"Is Uncle Clifford okay, Aunt Cleo?" Kiki asked.

"I'm sure he's fine, though I'm not sure what that was about." Cleo shrugged to her energetic niece.

Scruffy had a feeling he knew why it looked like Clifford's mind was somewhere else for a few seconds.

A cop whistled to himself as today seemed like a peaceful and quiet day in the city. He then heard thumping and looked concerned once he saw Clifford coming into town. The other citizens panicked at the sight and size of Clifford as he walked down the street.

"Okay, that sounds is just now getting annoying." Scruffy and Dot groaned.

"Ugh..." Snow White groaned herself as she slid on her sleep mask. "Wake me when we get there."

"Let's just ignore all of the panicking people." Patch said.

"Man, and I thought it was annoying when people were afraid of Shrek all the time before the triplets were born." Mo commented.

"I hope we make it to Larry and his amazing animals soon." Estelle said.

"Me too." Akito agreed with his twin sister.

Clifford tried not to let the other people get to them, but he felt uncomfortable with them being afraid of him.

Soon enough, they were out of the city.

"This brings back memories." Snow White said as they hid in an alley.

"It sure does." Vincent agreed with his pet kitten.

"You used to live in an alley, Snow White?" Oliver asked his girlfriend. 

"Mm-hmm," Snow White nodded. "It wasn't easy though, especially when I got separated from Garfield."

"So, when did you first meet Vincent?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, I was just wandering around, trying to find something to eat, and he just picked me up right off the ground and brought me into your home while you were getting your hair done for your birthday the next day." Snow White replied.

"Aw!" Jenny smiled.

Vincent blushed to her smile. 

"Now what?" Clifford asked.

"We need a plan." Cleo replied.

"Yeah," Oliver nodded. "A plan."

"All right, who has a plan?" T-Bone asked.

"Hello?~" Cleo smirked. "I do of course!"

"Then what's the plan?" Georgette asked.

"Stick close and follow me," Cleo replied as she zipped toward the wall like a secret agent. "Ready, guys?"

"I already have a bad feeling about this." Georgette sighed.

"Cleo would make an interesting Pound Puppy." Patch commented. 

Cleo soon led them out of the alley only to run into a street parade.

"I had a feeling this would happen." Georgette groaned.

"You always think my plans fall flat!" Cleo told her sister. 

"That's because they do." Georgette smirked.

"What now?" Oliver asked.

"RUN!" Cleo yelped. 

They soon ran off out of the city limits. 

The Pokemon soon joined the others, though realized that this was not Birdwell Island. "What the--?" They soon asked out of confusion. 

"And you guys thought I slept in." Snow White smirked.

"No time for smart remarks." Scruffy said.

"Sorry." Snow White shrugged innocently.

"Whew!" Cleo breathed in relief once they were safe now. "That worked out well, don't you think?"

"What was the plan again?" T-Bone asked her after panting with Clifford.

"What plan?" Scruffy added.

"Care to share, Cleo?" Georgette grinned to her sister. 

Cleo muttered in misfortune.


	9. Chapter 9

Back on Birdwell Island as it was almost sunset...

Emily Elizabeth biked around to find her big red dog. She couldn't find him, but she did find one of her human friends. "Any luck?" she then asked him.

"No," Charley frowned. "Did you go by the lighthouse?"

"Check." Emily Elizabeth frowned back.

"The park?" Charley frowned back.

"Check," Emily Elizabeth sighed. "I talked to Mrs. Diller and Sheriff Lewis, they say Cleo and T-Bone are missing too."

"Not only that, but so is Weenie." Eloise frowned as she walked up to them.

"Your dog's gone too?" Emily Elizabeth asked.

"He'd never leave me, but I guess he has," Eloise frowned. "All I could find was Skipperdee my turtle and Ditto, my Pokemon."

"Weird... It's like they're not even on the island anymore." Charley replied.

"I think you're right." Eloise said once she saw familiar giant paw prints.

"Charley, look!" Emily Elizabeth gasped.

They soon started to follow the paw prints.

"Where do you think they went?" Charley asked the girls.

"I don't know, but I do know he's with the others." Emily Elizabeth replied.

"Looks like it's time me, Detective Eloise of Fifth Avenue," Eloise said as she put on a pink detective cap with white polka dots with a tiny bow on the top of it on it like her bathing suit before she brought out a white magnifying glass. "I solved many mysteries in the Plaza Hotel, I can solve this mystery on Birdwell Island."

"I hope so." Emily Elizabeth said.

"The oatmeal in Mrs. Thornton's slippers?" Skipperdee asked Eloise. "That was you, remember?"

"She asked for it!" Eloise defended. "Besides, I've solved other mysteries than that back at the Plaza."

"You mean like that time you flooded the Plaza because of your bath when Mr. Salamone invited you to the Venetian Masked Ball in the Grand Ballroom?" Ditto asked.

"Whose side are you guys on?" Eloise pouted to her pet turtle and Pokemon.

"We're just stating the ones that were caused by you." Ditto said.

"Anyway!" Eloise rolled her eyes as she followed the paw prints in the sand with her magnifying glass.

"Careful, Eloise," Skipperdee warned. "Nanny said you'll get eye strain if you overdo that."

"Well, I don't get it," Charley shrugged. "Why would they leave?"

"You know animals can understand what humans say, even when someone is saying something that might sound mean." Eloise said while looking through her magnifying glass at the ground.

"What makes you say that?" Charley asked.

"I learned that from my Uncle Atticus, he says that animals understand humans more than they think," Eloise said. "Like, say if someone were to complain about Clifford's eating habit."

The last words Eloise said echoed in Emily Elizabeth's head. "Mr. Bleakman does say a lot about Clifford..." she then muttered.

"Mr. Bleakman?" Eloise asked.

"He's my next-door neighbor," Emily Elizabeth replied. "I try really hard not to bother him with Clifford, but he seems to always be in a mood whenever Clifford's around."

"Did he say anything that might have caused Clifford to run away?" Eloise asked.

"Well, I was doing my homework during this, but Mom and Dad told me that they talked with him about Clifford's eating habits." Emily Elizabeth replied.

"Well, I'm sure they'll be back." Eloise said.

"Do you think so, Eloise?" Emily Elizabeth asked. "I already lost Daffodil, I can't lose Clifford too." 

"Who's Daffodil?" Eloise asked.

"My pet rabbit..." Emily Elizabeth replied softly. "She used to live with us in the city back when Clifford was a puppy." 

"What happened to her?" Eloise asked.

"She died..." Emily Elizabeth frowned in memory. 

"Oh...I'm so sorry." Eloise frowned.

"It's okay..." Emily Elizabeth replied.

"You never told us about her." Charley said to his friend.

"I wasn't thinking about her," Emily Elizabeth said. "We were just moving away from the only home we'd ever known. I guess I... Forgot about Daffodil..." she then winced as she felt bad for forgetting about her pet bunny rabbit who was her first pet before she had adopted Clifford on her birthday. 

"Moving can do that sometimes." Eloise said.

Emily Elizabeth soon frowned and looked like she was going to cry.

"Oh, Emily, please don't cry." Charley soothed. 

"I-I need some time alone." Emily Elizabeth frowned.

Charley and Eloise looked to each other, but watched as Emily Elizabeth walked off and stared out into the ocean.

We are shown another flashback to the city where Emily Elizabeth used to live in. Emily Elizabeth stared out the car window as she held Daffodil in a blanket while her mother drove them to the vet's office. Daffodil's breathing was now starting to slow down.

They soon pulled into the vet's office. 

"Appointment for Daffodil Howard." Mrs. Howard told the nurse. 

"Please wait for the doctor." The nurse said.

Mrs. Howard sat with her daughter and hugged her. 

"Oh, Mom..." Emily Elizabeth frowned with tears in her eyes. 

 

Soon enough, the doctor they waited for came out seconds later.

"Howards?" he then called out.

"Right here, Doctor." Mrs. Howard replied.

"Hello, Emily Elizabeth, how are you today?" The doctor asked softly.

"I-I'm fine," Emily Elizabeth sniffled. "Can you see if Daffodil is okay?"

"I will, don't worry." The doctor promised. 

They soon went to one of the rooms. The vet soon took Daffodil. Daffodil shivered as she looked with wide eyes, but she actually couldn't see anything as the vet came to check on her while Emily Elizabeth waited with her mother. And were the vet could tell the symptoms that Daffodil had.

The nurse stood by while the doctor did his work and she assisted him whenever necessary.

"She's having a lot more pain..." The doctor diagnosed. "She's not eating much nor is she drinking... She's a bit cold underneath her fur... She's also sleeping when she shouldn't be."

"You don't mean that she could be... Dying, do you?" The nurse gasped.

"I'm afraid so, Nurse," The doctor replied softly. "Her heartbeat is decreasing by the minute." 

"Oh, the poor dear will be heartbroken." The nurse frowned.

The heart monitor soon beeped slowly and slowly until it reached a flat line. The doctor and nurse looked very saddened by this and Emily Elizabeth was a little girl. 

They soon came out with sad faces while carrying Daffodil.

"Well?" Mrs. Howard asked. "How is she?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Howard," The doctor replied bitterly. "She didn't make it." 

"Y-You don't mean...?" Emily Elizabeth frowned.

"I'm sorry, Emily Elizabeth," The doctor sighed sharply. "Your pet rabbit has passed on to a greater plain." 

Emily Elizabeth began to look heartbroken.

"I'm sorry." The doctor frowned to Emily Elizabeth.

The next thing Emily Elizabeth knew was that Daffodil was now being buried. Emily Elizabeth buried her face against her mother's shirt as she cried her eyes out. The flashback soon ended there.

 

Emily Elizabeth bowed her head as the sun glowed down over her face as she looked quite sad.

Meanwhile, back with the others who were getting exhausted.

"Man, I love to run, but I'm getting tired." Scruffy told the others.

"Me too." Dot panted.

"I haven't run this far since Eloise was caught for putting water down the mail chute on Prunella." Weenie added.

"I don't think I've run this far since that mean hot dog man chased me away before Dodger helped me." Oliver replied.

"I haven't run this much since I escaped Sykes." Vincent stated.

A drop of water soon dropped on T-Bone before he looked up to see a leaking barrel on top of a high stand. "Can we rest for a minute?" He then asked as he sat down and licked the drop of water. "I'm thirsty."

"Me too." Akito added.

Snow White soon yawned and stretched as she woke up more since it was night time. 

"Good evening, Snow White." Oliver greeted. 

"Are we there yet?" The white kitten asked.

"No, not yet, but they're close, I can feel it." Vincent said.

"We have to keep going, you guys," Clifford told the others. "If we don't, we'll never catch up with the carnival by tonight."

T-Bone soon looked to the leaking barrel after he got off Clifford's head and let the water fall in his mouth. Clifford soon got the top of the barrel off for a drink.

"I prefer creme, but I guess as they say in Rome, c'est la vie." Snow White shrugged.

"That's French." Weenie told her.

"Whatever." Snow White rolled her eyes and soon lapped up the water.

Everyone began to have their drink of water from the barrel.

"Ah..." Cleo smiled in relief and then bounced up her fur before yawning. "You know, a little cat nap wouldn't hurt."

"Can dogs take cat naps?" T-Bone asked.

"Anyone can." Atticus said.

"We can't rest here," Clifford shook his head. "I gotta stay outta sight."

"Hey, why don't we stop over there where that carnival is shutting down?" Teddy suggested.

"Carnival?" Everyone else asked out of surprise.

"Over there," Teddy pointed in the distance. "See?"

They soon started to make their way to the carnival.

"Guys!" T-Bone yelped until he grabbed onto Clifford's tail. "What about me?! Whoa, whee! I found it first!"

A rabbit shaped star constellation seemed to be watching over Clifford like a guardian angel. The rabbit constellation soon came to life and came out, looking like a real rabbit angel. Little did most people know, Heaven was divided between species, such as when Patch went to Heaven with Charlie, Itchy, and Carface before given a second chance after fetching Gabriel's Horn to save Annabelle and the other angels, so Daffodil was of course in Bunny Heaven and she looked down to her surrogate little brother who was Clifford now all grown up.

"I sure do miss him..." Daffodil sighed as she sat on a cloud. "He was a little pesty, but I guess that's just how puppies were... I should've been nicer to him." She looked up from Heaven before looking down to Clifford.

In a tent, a familiar ferret, cow, and two dogs were packing up a box together, though struggling to keep it shut.

"Okay, gang, Plan B, we gotta pack all over again." Shackleford told the others.

They soon got out of the way once they saw a giant paw.

"Holy cow, you guys are back!" Dorothy smiled.

"Yep, we sure are, and we brought our parents and our friends and our owners." Scruffy and Dot said.

"Amigos!" Rodrigo smiled.

"Hey, Rodrigo." Scruffy smiled back.

"We never thought we'd find you guys." Clifford added.

"So, Big Guy showed his mug after all." Shackleford smiled. 

"Uh-huh." Clifford nodded to the ferret.

"We're ready to join." Scruffy said as the Fudo family and Jenny came next to the dog family and Georgette and Oliver and Kiki.

Shackleford looked the most delighted to hear that. "I knew it!" he then smiled. "No one in the right mind can resist the glow of the spotlight," he then took a look at Clifford's collar which seemed to be a problem. "Oh..."

"What is it?" Clifford frowned.

"You've got tags," Shackleford told him. "Larry would never take you if you already have a family. We're all streets! He only takes in strays, and this is Larry's Amazing Animals, not Larry's Amazing Humans!"

"What? These old things?" Cleo chuckled as she then took her tag off with T-Bone's and tossed them in the box.

"What is she up to?" Georgette whispered to herself.

"Aunt Cleo?" Kiki asked nervously.

"They're from like five owners ago!" Cleo chuckled as she removed everyone else's tags. "We've had these for years!"

"But I just got mine last--" T-Bone began.

"Zip it." Cleo warned him.

"Ohh." Georgette said, now understanding.

Everyone else soon got the message.

"Uh, right, then what about these humans?" Shackleford asked about the owners.

"Oh, um, these humans took us in and, uh, they're homeless." Scruffy lied.

"Really?" Shackleford asked before looking to Jenny. "She looks a bit rich to me..."

"I get that a lot," Jenny smiled nervously. "I'm just a street urchin like the others, but Akito, Estelle, and Vincent's parents live in a homeless shelter with us and our pets. We were just looking for a home to call our own."

"Nice acting." Vincent whispered to her.

"Thanks, I try." Jenny whispered back.

Shackleford seemed to buy their act.

"We just keep our dog tags and these humans around to fool the dog-catcher." Georgette smirked.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, smart," Shackleford chuckled to that. "Okay now, don't move, I'll go get Larry."

"Okay." Patch said.

Rodrigo soon rushed over to the others and ran around in excitement. "You all look fantastico!"

"Finally, some girl friends," Dorothy smiled to Cleo and the other females of the group. "I'm so excited! Oh, oh, oh, we'll make friendship bracelets, and trade lip gloss, and bake snickerdoodles!"

"Mm" Kiki smiled.

"Cool." Cleo agreed with her niece.

"Snickerdoodles are my specialty." Mo smiled to the cow.

"It's true." Estelle also smiled.

Shackleford was soon pulling Larry over so he could meet Clifford and the others.

"Okay, okay, Shacks, show me what's so important." Larry smiled.

Shackleford then pointed to the big red dog.

Larry gasped at first before then chuckling. "I don't believe it, he's huge!" he then looked down to the ferret. "We could sure use a big red dog in our show, eh, Shack?" He soon came over to the group. "Hmm... Do you all need a home?" he then asked the others while petting Cleo.

Cleo, Kiki, and T-Bone smiled innocently with Scruffy, Dot, Snow White, Oliver, and Georgette.

Larry soon saw the so-called homeless family. "Hey, uh, welcome to the family," The man told the family. "You all look pretty clean for homeless folks."

"We are," Mo acted. "We've been moving from homeless shelter to homeless shelter trying to find a place to truly call home." 

"Really?" Larry asked. "Well, I suppose you all can stay here with your animals."

"Oh, thank you." Mo smiled.

"Sure thing, Miss." Larry smiled back.

"Oh, we should introduce ourselves." Mo said.

"So, who are ya folks?" Larry asked the others.

The Fudo family began to think of names so they wouldn't be recognized.

"This should be good." Patch muttered to himself with a small smirk about the Fudo family.

Atticus soon thought of the perfect names for him and the family and Jenny.

"So, who do we have here?" Larry asked.

"We're the Shore family," Atticus replied. "I'm Scott Sr, these are my children, Scott Jr, Zoe, and Olibu, and this is my lovely wife, Usagi."

"And who is this young lady?" Larry asked as he bent down to Jenny.

Jenny smiled nervously. "Erm... My name is... Um..."

"Ahiru." Estelle said for her pen pal.

"Uh, yes, that's my name." Jenny smiled.

"Well, nice to have you all aboard," Larry smiled back. "And Shackleford? Good job, pal. You always come through for us."

Shackleford smiled back, rather smugly. 

The carnival soon started to power down.

"Come on," Larry told the others before waking off. "I'll make us a fire." 

"Usagi?" Mo smirked to Atticus about her new alias.

"It was either that or Rue." Atticus said.

"Rue?" Mo asked curiously.

Atticus soon whispered to her of what both names meant. Mo smiled to him. Everyone gathered together to get settled in for the night.

"I'll tell you, kids, this is a lot like my childhood," Mo told Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Jenny when they were alone. "Sleeping under the stars and using a fire for warmth... Just me and Angel with the Junkyard Dogs."

"Was it lonely being the only human in the group?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, sure it was," Mo replied. "I think Buster only recruited me because I had thumbs and I could get more food for him and all of us. I felt like I didn't need anybody but the dogs..." She then sighed in memory. "And then Akito, Estelle, and Vincent's father came over."

"Aw!" Jenny smiled.

Vincent blushed again.

"You're turning red a lot, son." Mo teased her eldest child.

"Oh, it's just really hot out here..." Vincent replied nervously.

"Sure." Atticus smirked.

"I-I mean... Aw..." Vincent stammered before sighing in defeat. "Okay, I really like Jenny... She makes me feel things that I never felt before."

"I felt the same way when I met your mother." Atticus smiled.

Mo blushed to Atticus.

"I know we're young, but I really feel like I love her, Dad." Vincent told Atticus.

"I know, son." Atticus smiled.

"She just caresses and makes my boyhood tremble...." Vincent replied melodramatically like the artist he was. 

"What planet are you from, Romeo?" Estelle rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Artist." Vincent said.

Akito and Estelle just chuckled to their older brother who felt he was more sophisticated than they were.

Larry was now reading a story. Everyone gathered around the fire with warm blankets as he told them the story of a dog named Benji until he soon finished as Rodrigo yawned and Dirk had fallen asleep by his feet. Even the pups enjoyed the story. Larry smiled as he tucked the dogs in as they fell asleep, and then went inside of his bus.

"I'm such a softy for that story." Dorothy smiled as she wiped her eyes with tears and even blew her nose. 

"No one knew his craft like Benji," Rodrigo told the others. "He's the reason why I'm in the business." 

"He sounds cool, but he's no Thunderbolt." Patch nodded. He soon noticed that Weenie, Clifford, Cleo, and T-Bone were looking a little homesick.

"Isn't show biz great?" Cleo smiled.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Clifford replied. "Really... Great."

"Weenie?" Dot asked the pug dog which made him yelp at first.

"Charge it, please!" Weenie's eyes flashed open before he calmed down. "Sorry... Thinking."

"Homesick, right?" Dot asked.

"What?" Weenie smiled nervously. "No, why would I be homesick? I love being in show biz. It's not like I miss Eloise giving me a roast beef bone from Room Service, or going for walks with Nanny in the afternoon, this is the life for me."

Patch and the others could tell that Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone, and Weenie were missing their owners.

"This must remind you of your adventures with the Air Buddies, Dad." Scruffy smiled up to his father.

"It sure does." Patch smiled back.

"Our dogchildren..." Colette added.

"Which one is your favorite adventure with them?" Dot asked.

"Oh, that's hard to decide..." Patch replied. "They were all pretty good."

"I have to agree." Colette nodded.

"Okay, enough stories right now, it's time for bed." Patch told their puppies.

"Oh, Dad, we're not even tired..." Scruffy replied only to yawn.

"Yes, you are." Colette giggled.

Scruffy and Dot pouted before they soon began to fall asleep together. Patch came closer beside Colette and decided to get comfortable to sleep with her for the night like they did almost every night since Atticus and Mo got married. Clifford looked up at the full moon before he tried to sleep with his friends as a rabbit angel watched over him.


	10. Chapter 10

Meanwhile, back with Emily Elizabeth...

The poor blonde girl walked into her big red dog's emptied doghouse as she felt just as blue as the night sky. Felicity looked to Emily Elizabeth as she was the only one who hadn't run away along with her mother as she felt worried for the girl and decided to go comfort her using the power of empathy. Emily Elizabeth soon sat down of her dog's pillow.

"Bonsoir." Felicity greeted.

"Felicity?" Emily Elizabeth asked.

"I'm sorry about your dog..." Felicity told her as she decided to sit with the girl. "I have never owned my own pet, but I'm sure that it can be quite saddening, but I'm sure that Clifford would not leave for no reason."

"It doesn't seem like he would," Emily Elizabeth replied. "He's always been so happy with us." She soon noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under the giant pillow.

"What's this?" Felicity wondered.

Emily Elizabeth lifted up the pillow and brought out the paper. "Hmm... 'A Talent Contest... Tummy Yummies'..."

"I think you found out where your pet is." Felicity smiled.

This gave Emily Elizabeth hope as she knew she had to show this to her parents. Felicity smiled to Emily Elizabeth. Mismagius soon came out of her Pokeball to join her trainer.

"How did I do?" Felicity asked her Pokemon.

"You did great." Mismagius smiled.

Felicity smiled back. "I'm trying really hard to work on my social skills."

"Well, I say that you're doing a great job." Mismagius smiled.

"Merci, Mismagius," Felicity smiled back before sighing. "Oh, I hope Akito, Estelle, and Vincent know what they are doing."

Eloise was getting bored, so she a leaf of cabbage on her head as she stopped to think.

"Eloise, why do you have a leaf of cabbage on your head?" Drell asked.

"I put a leaf of cabbage on my head when I have a headache or I need to think," Eloise replied. "It makes a very good hat."

"What was your mother on when she was pregnant with you?" Drell grumbled. "Anyway, what do you wanna do?"

"I'm thinking about the others..." Eloise replied. "Especially Weenie... He's never been on his own before."

"I'm sure they'll be back." Drell said.

"I wonder if I should've gone with them." Eloise said to the warlock.

"If you did, then your nanny would have wanted to know." Drell said.

"Are you afraid to upset my nanny, Drell?" Eloise asked. "Prunella once said something bad about me, and Nanny boxed her like on Fight Night on TV before my bedtime."

"I just don't wanna get in trouble with her." Drell said.

"I should do something." Eloise stood up in her chair. 

"Oh, look at that, 8:30, time for bed." Drell stood up and soon picked up the six-year-old and threw her over his shoulder.

"Dang it." Eloise said.

Drell smirked and soon carried her off and put her in bed. 

Eloise turned on her flashlight as she hiked under her blankets. "I have to do something to help my friends," she told herself. "They, like Nanny, mean the world to me for Lord's sake, and a friend in need is a friend indeed!"

Lightning flashed with thunder rumbling. 

"If you don't go to sleep now, you won't have any friends~" Drell's voice warned almost like Discord.

"Okay, okay!" Eloise yelped.

"I still got it." Drell smirked as he soon sat in a chair and took out a book, and soon started to read it.

Back with the others...

They were soon on the road as they had to leave to the next town, and where setting up at the next town would be easy with the extra help. The dogs stuck their tongues out of the windows as it was a dog thing. Of course to them, this was really fun.

"I still don't get this whole sticking your head out the window thing." Oliver said to the dogs. 

"It's fun, Uncle Oliver!" Kiki smiled.

"If you say so." Oliver rolled his eyes with a smirk.

They soon arrived at the town.

"Here we are, the next town over," Atticus told his family. "Now remember, we're the Shore family."

"Right." Akito nodded.

They soon went to help set up their next stop with the help of Larry and his animals. Snow White yawned as she began to fall asleep, curling up into a ball.

"Sleep well." Oliver smiled.

Snow White seemed to smile in her sleep. Oliver looked around and soon kissed Snow White back to sleep. Snow White seemed to smile to that while sleeping. With Clifford, it seemed a lot easier for Larry and his animals to set up, not to mention the added strength.

"This seems familiar somehow..." Atticus commented as he put a peg in the ground.

Akito then stomped on the peg to plant into the ground with a single step.

"I think this might remind you of how you were apart of your first circus." Mo said.

"That's it!" Atticus replied. "After we rode out of town, we had to set up for the next town with Dumbo... I'm glad I got to meet Atlas though, even if he was full of himself when we first met."

"Was that before or after he met Ms. Connie?" Estelle asked.

"Before," Atticus replied. "Long, long before."

"Ohh, yeah." The Fudo siblings smiled.

"Ah, Atlas..." Atticus smiled in memory. "Before I reunited with your Grandpa Patrick, he felt like a father and a brother to me at the same time."

"Aw!" Estelle smiled.

Atticus soon felt his thumb being hammered.

"Sorry, Dad." Akito cringed nervously.

"Aw, it's okay, it didn't hurt," Atticus chuckled. "I'm as strong as Aunt Rainbow Dash's tortoise's shell." 

"I thought Tank was a turtle?" Vincent asked.

"Tortoises are turtles." Mo told him.

Vincent shrugged. "Meh."

"They're also reptiles," Jenny added. "That's a common misconception of calling them amphibian," She then giggled. "In this comic I like called Over the Hedge, this turtle named Verne keeps being called an amphibian, but he says he's a reptile."

"Nice." Estelle said.

Soon enough, the ground was all set up.

"Well, looks like our work here is done," Larry smiled. "Now, I've got some tickets to sell, gang. We're gonna pack 'em in tonight!"

"We sure are." Atticus said.

Larry soon left to get the ticket booth ready.

"So, what should we do for acts?" Jenny asked.

"No problem," Atticus replied. "We were in a circus too with Scooby and the gang, we'll do what we do best. Of course, you kids can help, Akito, you can be a strongboy, Estelle, you can dance, and Vincent, you can... Um... Well, you're mostly artistic."

"True, but this seems to be only acts for animals." Vincent said.

"Oh, is it?" Atticus replied before chuckling. "Never mind then, we'll get a free show."

"Smooth, 'Scott Sr'." Mo teased her husband.

"Cool, that means we get to be in the show." Scruffy smiled.

"What's Snow White's talent?" Oliver asked. 

"Sleeping for 23 hours." Scruffy and Dot smirked.

"When she's awake, I'm not sure." Vincent said.

"We'll find out at night," Scruffy said. "I know it's weird, but I actually saw her playing at night. It's like she was a totally different cat."

"Well, cats are nocturnal." Mo said.

"You knew about this?!" Dot gasped.

"Yes, I did." Mo nodded.

"No way!" Dot replied.

"It's common knowledge." Atticus chuckled to the puppies.

Night time soon came. Night time soon came.

"Is it almost time?" The ivory kitten asked.

"Just about, Snow," Vincent smiled to Snow White. "People should be lining up any minute now."

"Great." Snow White said.

Soon enough, people were coming into the show. The family then decided to sit for themselves and watch it as well with excited smiles since Larry let them in for free.

"This is going to be so exciting." Akito smiled.

"Have fun with it, kids." Atticus smiled back.

Larry was beginning to announce the show to start while the animals set up backstage.

"When do we get on stage?" Scruffy asked Shackleford.

"You guys will come in at the end." Shackleford replied.

"Oh, okay." Dot smiled.

"And now for our show!" Larry told the audience.

"That's my cue," Shackleford said before looking back to the others. "You guys just watch and learn."

"The famous, irreplaceable, sensational Shackleford: The High-flying Ferret!" Larry announced.

"Go, Shackleford!" The puppies cheered.

The ferret dropped his cape with a smirk and soon climbed up his ladder before hoping this to go well as he began his own trapeze act, and he soon landed on Dorothy. Pins were then thrown at him and he began to juggle them as the people watched in wide wonder.

"I wonder how he does that without thumbs?" Akito pondered while sipping his soda.

"Who knows?" Estelle shrugged. "Oh, I just hope that nothing will cause Dorothy to look down."

A butterfly soon landed on the cow's nose as Shackleford juggled on top of her. Dorothy soon sneezed and began to look down much to everyone else's misfortune.

"Spoke too soon." Estelle said nervously.

"Oh, this can't end well." Vincent said.

"That must be how Cherry felt when she was learning how to fly for the first time." Atticus frowned in concern.

Shackleford soon tried to grab the trapeze and Dorothy grabbed a hold of him in a panic until they both suddenly flew in the air and ended up on the next trapeze, the poor cow crying for her life. She grabbed a hold of the tower holding Dirk and Rodrigo and soon brought it down with her, latching onto the spotlight.

"Yikes!" Jenny cried out.

"I can't look." Weenie whimpered as he turned the other way with his paws over his face.

Larry began to try to save his animals only to accidentally activate the rocket roller-blades.

"Oh..." Vincent began.

"No." Akito and Estelle concluded in unison.

The roller blades soon began to spin Dirk and the other animals around and around as it looked like the show was about to come apart.

"Oh, no..." The Fudo siblings gulped.

Jenny yelped and then grabbed onto Vincent in fear. Vincent looked happy at that and soon hugged Jenny to comfort her. To keep the show from coming apart, Clifford acted fast. The crowd looked shocked and amazed, of course as Clifford was a big red dog. Shackleford still spun after a while since his tail slipped out of Dorothy's hoof. They were soon all falling until Clifford caught them to safety.

"Whew." Akito sighed.

Dirk still spun around and around before exploding into fireworks, but luckily, he came down on a parachute. The crowd soon looked impressed and amazed as they thought that was part of the show.

"Whew, looks like everyone found that part of the show." Mo sighed.

"Thank, Celestia and Luna." Atticus added in relief.

Larry decided this would be the perfect moment to introduce Clifford. "Why, ladies and gentlemen, it's Big Red to the rescue!" he then smiled to the audience.

The crowd went wild and enjoyed Clifford, much to Shackleford's dismay and jealousy. Scruffy was relieved that Clifford saved the ones that would have had a rough landing.

In the tent, the other animals all celebrated Clifford's accomplishment.

"That was amazing, Clifford." Dot smiled.

"Thanks." Clifford smiled back. 

"That truly was amazing." Snow White purred.

"Yeah!" Oliver added.

"That was totally rad, Big Red." Dirk smiled to the big red dog. 

"That's our Clifford!" Cleo smiled back. 

"The greatest!" T-Bone cheered.

"He sure is." Scruffy smiled.

"You're my hero, Clifford, thank you." Dorothy told the red dog before kissing him.

"Aw!" Colette smiled.

"Aw, thanks, I was just helping, that's all." Clifford smiled back to the others.

"Hey, well done, Clifford, my man!" Shackleford soon came in. "That was one lucky break! We were all one tail wag away from disaster. Good stuff, good stuff, but let's not let that happen again, right, team? We can't depend on an 'accident' to save the show."

"But everyone thought that was part of the act." Scruffy said.

"Right, right, right, we gotta think about next time though," Shackleford replied before facing the cow. "Dorothy, Dorothy, you know you're my girl, right? And I know that very soon, you are gonna master this act that we've been over a hundred times."

Dorothy frowned and shook her head about that.

"You just need to practice and don't look down." Shackleford told her.

'Sounds like he's trying to be bossy.' Snow White thought to herself.

Dorothy soon tried to keep herself calm about her fear of heights.

"And you, Dirk," Shackleford pointed to the skateboarding dog. "You ever hear of too much of a good thing? Now ya have! Ya gotta ease up on the throttle. Does that thing have a downshift?"

"Uh, no," Dirk glared slightly. "I got all I need for a need for speed."

"I can tell you can't contain your speed." Patch smiled.

"Not really, dude," Dirk chuckled. "I tend to go my own way."

"What about me, Shackleford, what did I do?" Rodrigo drooped his ears worriedly.

"Oh, you, my little amigo, need to focus on keeping those weights up, up, up, instead of down, down, down," Shackleford chuckled. "You almost got squashed like a tortilla!"

Rodrigo looked sad about that.

'I'm hating this guy.' Dot thought to herself.

"Shackleford?" Clifford asked. "Did we do okay?"

"Okay? Yes, you did okay!" Shackleford smiled before glaring. "We all did okay, but okay is not enough! Okay does not dazzle, okay does not delight, and okay, does not, I repeat, does not win contests! We need to be--"

"Fantastic!" Larry smiled as he soon came in.

Shackleford seemed to frown as he didn't expect that.

"Simply amazing!" Larry continued. "That was our best show ever! Big Red, you stole the show! If you guys keep up what you did out there tonight, we'll be sure to make it into that contest, and thanks to Big Red, I bet we can win it!"

Clifford smiled to Larry and licked him with his enormous tongue.

Larry chuckled before going back to his trailer before looking to the ferret. "Thanks, pal, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have Big Red." he then ruffled up the top of his fur before leaving.

"So, do we get the Tummy Yummies now?" Clifford asked Shackleford.

Shackleford only responded by fluttering his lips.

Meanwhile back in Emily Elizabeth's neighborhood...

"Hello, I'd like to report nine missing dogs, and a kitten," Mr. Bleakman said as he talked on the phone. "The first dog is really friendly, red, and is as big as a house... No, I am not crazy!" he then glared before hanging up. He soon saw that now wasn't the time to let the person from the phone to get to him for calling him crazy.

Emily Elizabeth hung her head sadly.

"Oh, don't worry," Mr. Bleakman soothed his neighbor. "We'll find them."

"I know we will," Emily Elizabeth told him before hugging him. "Thanks, Mr. B."

Mr. Bleakman smiled down to her and hugged her back, though he didn't have any children of his own, he felt like Emily Elizabeth was like the daughter he never had right now. That night, everyone had a nice sleep, but Akito had a vision of a fight that would happen in the near future.


	11. Chapter 11

Akito tossed and turned slightly as the vision worried him a lot until his eyes glowed. To his surprise, he could see a dark side to Shackleford as the blue ferret wasn't as nice as he claimed to be. He then saw Scruffy and was wanting to know what he had to do with his vision or why they were in a place that looked like a wasteland. "Scruffy?" He asked in surprise to see his dog.

"Listen, Shackleford, this has gone on far long enough ;we didn't even want to come with you for the prize!" Scruffy glared. "I mean seriously, if Clifford was just an ordinary sized dog, then we wouldn't have had come all this way just for you to get jealous of him! I mean, I can relate, ever since we joined, Akito's been spending all his time with him and never playing with me like we used to!"

"You don't like me, Scruffy?" Clifford asked as he came up behind the smaller dog.

Scruffy soon realized what he just said. "Um, well, it's just that..." Scruffy tried to think of what he meant. "Clifford, I do like you, but, um, how can I put this nicely?"

Clifford backed up slightly.

"Clifford, please, that didn't come out right, I didn't mean it like that!" Scruffy told the big red dog. "Please, listen to me!"

"I think I've heard enough." Clifford huffed as he started to walk away.

"Clifford, please, I didn't mean it like that!" Scruffy cried out.

Akito frowned as he sat this and a young unicorn filly with platinum blonde mane and crossed eyes stood behind him as she watched this with him. He then turned around and screamed since he didn't know she was there and she soon screamed back.

"Who are you?!" Akito asked.

"Who are you?" The filly asked.

"I asked you first." Akito replied.

"I asked you first." The filly copied.

"Quit copying me!" Akito complained.

"Quit copying me!" The filly smiled.

Akito began to think of something to trick the filly. "I'm a complete muffin brain." He then smirked.

"You're a complete muffin brain!" The filly smirked back before laughing.

Soon enough, Twilight appeared.

"Aunt Twilight!" Akito smiled. "Uh, this filly is kinda bumming me out."

"Dinky, there you are," Twilight told the filly. "I thought we told you to never play with your father's experiments going into other dimensions."

"Dinky?" Akito asked. "You mean Dinky Doo?"

"Sorry about her, Akito," Twilight smiled to her godnephew. "Dinky tends to wander off during lessons with Flurry and the others, especially since her father is Doctor Whooves."

"I understand." Akito smiled.

"Ah, having a vision, I see?" Twilight replied before her eyes widened at the sight of Clifford. "Wow, that dog is almost as big as an Ursa Minor!"

"That's Clifford." Akito said.

"Clifford?" Twilight repeated.

"The big red dog..." Akito nodded to his favorite Equestrian aunt.

"Ohh," Twilight smiled before frowning. "Oh, but why does he look angry?"

"I just saw him and Scruffy have a fight," Akito explained to her. "Apparently Clifford is going to get a lot of attention in Larry's Amazing Animals, and that's gonna make Shackleford, he's a ferret, jealous of him."

"Ooh, jealousy can be a terrible, but natural thing." Twilight Sparkle said.

"You're telling me," Akito replied. "Aunt Twilight, what do I do?"

"I'm not sure since Dinky and I just arrived here." Twilight Sparkle said.

"Oh..." Akito frowned. "I was really hoping for some guidance."

"I think you should talk to your father about this," Twilight suggested as she put her hoof around him in comfort. "He may know what to do since you two are so much alike in personality and thinking skills. Oh, but don't forget to tell him I said hi."

"I won't." Akito smiled.

Dinky soon came back with a tray of muffins for Akito.

"Thank you, Dinky." Akito smiled.

"Thank you, Dinky." Dinky replied.

"Okay, Dinky, I think we should go before you drive Akito crazy." Twilight said.

"I guess you got your cutie mark in echoing." Akito teased the filly.

Dinky gasped and looked down to her flank, but frowned as it was still blank before she stared at the floor with her ears dropped. "I'm never gonna get a cutie mark..." she then pouted. "I was gonna show the other Crusaders too!"

Akito soon felt bad now that he didn't know.

"It's okay, Akito, you didn't know..." Twilight soothed the boy. "Dinky's a little sensitive around jokes too..."

"I'm really sorry, Dinky..." Akito replied before he took a muffin and ate it. "Mm! This is the best muffin I've ever had."

"You're just saying that." Dinky pouted.

"No, I really mean it." Akito smiled as he finished his muffin.

"Oh... Thank you!" Dinky smiled back. "I just love baking muffins with Mom!"

"Hmm... Maybe that's your talent." Akito said.

"Mom does say that muffins run in the family..." Dinky replied. "Kinda like how apples run in Orchard Blossom's family... Though sometimes, she has a pear every now and then." The filly's flank soon flashed.

"Dinky!" Twilight and Akito gasped.

"What?" Dinky asked them. "What is it?"

"Well, no wonder you were so worked up," Akito told the filly. "It looks like somepony's got her cutie mark!"

Dinky soon looked at her flank. It shouldn't had been a surprise, but her cutie marks were muffins and they appeared to have smiley faces on them like the flowers on Cheerilee's flank.

"Wahoo!" Dinky smiled.

Twilight and Akito smiled to the filly. Things were starting to fade away.

"Uh-oh, looks like you're about to wake up," Twilight told Akito. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." Akito smiled.

Twilight soon waved before vanishing.

Akito soon woke up and sat up, rubbing his head before looking down as Estelle snuggled against him. He smiled down at her before going to see their father. Estelle soon looked up at him.

"Bad dream, Estelle?" Akito softly asked her.

"Yeah..." Estelle nodded. "Sorry if I bothered you."

"What was it about?" Akito asked.

"A polar bear was chasing me around the North Pole." Estelle pouted.

"Why was a polar bear chasing you?" Akito asked.

"I dunno," Estelle replied. "I also saw a strange creature. It was a small, and blue, with stubby feet and club-like arms that were longer than its body. It had a red gem on its chest and a yellow dot below the gem."

"Hmm... That is strange." Akito said.

"It was..." Estelle replied.

"Well, it was just a dream," Akito gave her a small hug. "I gotta talk to Dad about something, okay?"

"Okay." Estelle said.

Akito hugged her a bit more and then went toward Atticus. "Dad? Dad... DAD!"

Atticus groaned and looked over. "Huh...?"

"Dad, I have to tell you something." Akito told his father.

"What is it?" Atticus asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"I had a vision." Akito said.

"Oh!" Atticus replied. "Um... What happened?"

Akito began to tell his father everything.

"I see..." Atticus replied.

"I'm not sure what to do, Dad..." Akito sighed. "What would you do?"

"I'm not sure myself, I've never had any visions that involved any fights between friends." Atticus said.

"I just don't know what to do..." Akito sighed as he bowed his head. "I'm really lost."

"Well, all we can do is do what we can." Atticus said.

"Thanks, Dad," Akito sighed. "Thanks, anyway."

"It's okay, son, I'm sure there's an easy solution to this." Atticus comforted.

Akito soon heard Clifford whimpering and soon saw him whimpering in his sleep.

"I think you should check on Clifford." Atticus suggested.

"Okay." Akito nodded before going off to the big red dog.

Atticus watched him go and then smiled as he looked down to Mo as she slept peacefully and she was a vision of beauty to him. Akito soon went next to Clifford and laid down next to him and comforted him to help him through his dream. Dorothy soon woke up as the sun was slowly coming up and she was practicing her tightrope act by trying to conquer her fear of heights once and for all.

Once it was morning, Akito and Clifford woke up as well. 

"Hi, Dorothy!" Clifford smiled to the cow.

Dorothy yelped before she soon latched onto the rope before spinning around and falling on her back.

"Are you okay?" Akito asked out of concern.

"Oh, don't worry, it's okay," Dorothy smiled. "It's not the first time this cow's been tipped."

"You sure you're all right?" Clifford asked her.

"Oh, I just... I... Can I tell you guys a secret?" Dorothy asked nervously.

"Sure." Akito smiled.

"I have some problems with heights." Dorothy whispered, though that was obvious.

"Ohh." Akito said.

"Really?" Clifford asked the cow. "You do?"

"Well, I know it's hard to believe, I mean, I know I make it look so easy out there, but it is not!" Dorothy told them. "I get scared when I'm up there, and then I mess up, and now I'm all worried that I'm gonna ruin our chances to win the big contest, and everyone will be so disappointed, and I just feel awful!"

"Hmm... Hey, Clifford, how do you cheer up Emily Elizabeth when she feels down?" Akito asked the big red Labrador.

"Oh, that's easy," Clifford smiled as he came closer to Dorothy. "Back home--"

"Who's Emily Elizabeth?" Dorothy asked. 

"Uh... Whenever a friend of mine felt bad, I gave her a ride," Clifford covered up. "A ride always helped make her feel better."

"So, maybe that can help you get over your fear of heights." Akito smiled at Dorothy.

"A ride, really?" Dorothy smiled back. "Hmm... I guess I could try."

"Sure!" Clifford smiled as he leaned down. "Hop on!"

Dorothy soon rushed over to the big red dog and climbed onto his back to go for a ride. Akito soon joined them. Clifford then stood up on all fours and began to walk around with the boy and the cow on his back.

"Dorothy, hold onto his collar," Akito suggested. "It'll keep you steady."

"Already doing it." Dorothy said as she held on to Clifford's collar.

"Good..." Akito nodded. "I'm not afraid of heights, but that's a good way to keep your balance on Clifford."

"Thanks, kid." Dorothy smiled.

Clifford started to walk out of the carnival.

Dorothy was nervous, but Akito laughed as he was having a lot of fun. "You never dropped anyone, right, Clifford?" she then nervously asked the big red dog.

Akito had a feeling Clifford had never dropped anyone ever. A duckling soon flew over and landed on the tip of Dorothy's nose. The mother duck soon also flew over and shooed the duckling away and they flew away together. Dorothy saw that, she then looked down, but she soon laughed and was getting over her fear of heights.

"Feeling better?" Akito smiled.

"I-I think so!" Dorothy smiled back. "This is great!"

"You see?" Clifford smiled. "I thought it might help you feel better!"

"And you were right, big fella." Akito smiled back.

"This is exactly what I need!" Dorothy beamed as she began to dance for joy. "I'm really high up, and I'm not scared! I'm not scared! I'M NOT SCARED!"

Snow White groaned as she overheard that while everyone else was slowly waking up. They soon saw something they didn't think would be possible.

"Is that Dorothy?" Mo wondered as she looked to who was on Clifford's back.

Akito soon stood up from Clifford's back and slid down his tail and went flying in the air.

Atticus caught his younger son with a laugh. "Have a good ride?" he then asked.

"Uh-huh," Akito smiled. "Dorothy's not afraid of heights anymore!"

"That's amazing." Atticus smiled back.

"Yep, Clifford helped her get over her fear." Akito smiled back.

"Oh, what a sweet dog Clifford is." Mo cooed in admiration.

"He sure is." Estelle smiled.

"We gotta show Mr. Larry." Akito said as he came out from his father's arms as he soon rushed to get the human owner of the animal group.

Everyone came together in the tent while Dorothy practiced her tightrope act without her fear.

"What is it, Scott?" Larry asked.

'Oh, right, my name's Scott now,' Akito thought to himself before clearing his throat. "Come to the tent, sir, you gotta see this!"

"Okay," Larry smiled. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Akito then brought Larry into the tent. Dorothy was concentrating as she balanced herself on the tightrope with Clifford's help.

"Holy, Cow!" Larry gasped. "Big Red, first you saved the show, and now you helped Dorothy! You really are amazing!"

"He sure is." Akito smiled.

Shackleford looked jaw-dropped and dismayed about Clifford's popularity.


	12. Chapter 12

Soon enough, they were on the road again and off to the next spot.

"And then, Dumbo pelted all of them with peanuts!" Atticus told the kids about the story about his and Cherry's adventure with Dumbo before they all laughed at the end with the ringmaster and Mrs. Jumbo's so-called friends before they went back home with Atlas.

"I bet they deserved it." Akito said.

"The circus life is pretty much an adventure on its own," Atticus replied. "Of course, I also got to meet Atlas... Like I said, he was like a big brother and father for me at the same time before I reunited with my parents sometime after I had met your mother."

"I loved the circus with Jirachi," Estelle smiled. "That was a lot of fun too."

"It sure was." Akito smiled back.

"You know, I used to read your Uncle JJ a story called Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse." Mo told her kids.

"Ooh." The kids smiled.

"I'll have to find my copy of it," Mo smiled. "There was Marvin of course on Fast-Talking Jack's carnival with Diamonds the Elephant, Elizabeth the Emotional Pig, Stripes the Tiger, and Edna the fortune teller."

"What about Afro Circus?" Jenny giggled from a movie that she liked to watch.

"Oh, yes," Mo smiled. "That movie was funny."

The kids laughed again as they shared circus stories together.

They seemed to travel all around America together as they were becoming more and more successful, and where more and more Akito started to hang out with Clifford to keep him from being lonely. Clifford missed Emily Elizabeth a lot, but he felt great to have Akito's company.

"Hey, Akito, let's play!" Scruffy muffled as he carried an iron ball in his mouth. He soon saw that his owner was already playing with someone else.

"You like that, huh, Clifford?" Akito chuckled as he played with the Labrador.

The two of them were playing 'Fetch' with a tree.

"Akito...?" Scruffy pouted, even dropping his ball on the ground. He soon saw that they were having so much fun together and just decided to go to sleep.

Estelle decided to practice her ballet skills to pass the time while Dot was watching. During that time, the white puppy saw that her brother was not playing with Akito. Estelle soon finished her solo version of Swan Lake.

"That was great, Estelle," Dot smiled before looking to her brother. "Scruffy, why don't you do something with Akito?"

"He's busy." Scruffy muttered.

"Busy?" Dot asked. "Busy with what?"

"Not what, who." Scruffy said.

"Okay...?" Dot blinked. "Busy with who?"

"Clifford." Scruffy told her.

"Aw, that was nice of him to keep Clifford Company." Dot smiled.

"I guess..." Scruffy pouted.

"Don't worry, Scruffy," Dot soothed her brother. "I'm sure Akito will play with you again soon."

"Yeah, maybe." Scruffy smiled.

Dot smiled back and then looked to Estelle. "What ballet will you do now, Estelle?" she then asked.

"Hmm... I did The Nutcracker, just did Swan Lake..." Estelle paused to think. "Is Phantom of the Opera a ballet?"

"Not sure." Dot shrugged.

"I'll take a little break for right now." Estelle said as she sat while crossing her legs.

Dot smiled up to her and came toward her.

"Aw, aren't you a good doggy?" Estelle cooed as she pet her puppy.

Scruffy sighed to that and soon walked off and passing Vincent as he was reading a book on Winnie the Pooh with Snow White. The more he saw anyone with their pet or owner, it made him feel even worse.

"Scruffy!" Akito's voice called out.

"Akito?" Scruffy's ears went up slightly in excitement and his tail wagged.

"Do you have your rope toy?" Akito asked his dog. "I wanna make it bigger so I can play with it with Clifford."

"I think it's in your bag." Scruffy groaned.

"Thanks." Akito smiled before going off.

Scruffy sighed and fell flat on the ground. "He forgot all about me."

Akito soon used his magic to make the rope bigger for Clifford.

"Oh, boy, I used to love playing Rope with Emily Elizabeth's cousin Laura's dog." Clifford smiled in excitement.

"Wanna play it with me?" Akito smiled up at the big red Labrador.

"Sure!" Clifford smiled back down.

Scruffy pouted as he watched Akito play with Clifford and a sad song seemed to enter his mind as he thought back to the times he played with Akito since he was able to play after being born similar to a way Jessie remembered her times with Emily when Woody wanted to go back to Andy, and where Akito didn't seem to stop playing with Clifford in just one town.

"When somebody loved me, Everything was beautiful, Every hour spent together, Lives within my heart~" Scruffy began to sadly sing as he felt like Akito forgot all about him and was more interested in Clifford. "And when he was sad, I was there to dry his tears, And when he was happy so was I, When he loved me~"

Akito was now riding on Clifford's back like a horse.

Scruffy blinked with tears in his eyes as he felt like Akito didn't need him anymore.

"You're the best, Clifford," Akito smiled as he hugged the big red dog. "Emily Elizabeth is so lucky."

"And I'm lucky to have her." Clifford smiled back before he licked Akito.

Akito laughed as he enjoyed Clifford.

"Stupid big red dog..." Scruffy growled in hurt jealousy, and where his jealousy started to get worse and worse as Clifford's popularity started to get bigger.

Shackleford felt the same jealousy, though for more of the spotlight reasons than Akito bonding with Clifford.

They were soon in the middle of nowhere and where this caused Akito to have a bad feeling.

"Where are we now?" Vincent asked as he held Snow White in his arms while petting her soft fur while Jenny did the same with Oliver.

"I'm not sure." Akito said.

"It looks like The Wild West." Atticus commented.

"It sure does." Mo said.

"Hey, kid, you like to paint?" Larry asked Vincent.

"More than anything!" Vincent beamed before blushing and shuffling his foot while glancing toward Jenny. "Except maybe the love of my life..." 

"How'd you like to paint the next billboard for a show?" Larry offered.

"I'd love to." Vincent smiled.

"Here you go, kid," Larry smiled back as he handed him the paints. "Be sure to get Big Red in there."

"You got it." Vincent said before starting to paint the new billboard.

"Nice kids." Larry smiled in admiration.

"Shh," Vincent told him. "I must concentrate."

"Oh, sorry." Larry replied before giving him some space.

After some time had passed, the young artist was finished. "Viola!" Vincent smiled. "Okay, you guys can look now."

Everyone soon came to see the new billboard. All of the animals were on the billboard, but Clifford was in the center as the star of the show instead of Shackleford, and where that made Shackleford's jealousy even worse. Beyond worse. The ferret seemed almost enraged. 

"One of my best works since lots of folks will see it." Vincent smiled, feeling proud of himself.

"It's lovely." Jenny smiled to him.

Vincent blushed to her compliment. Everyone seemed to love the billboard, except of course for Shackleford.

"Thanks to all of you, this show has become better than I ever imagined." Larry smiled to the animals.

"Could this get any better?" Estelle smiled.

"I dunno how it possibly could." Akito smiled to his twin sister.

A car soon pulled up beside the tent, and the driver soon came out to meet Larry.

"Mr. Gobblegable?" The man asked Larry.

"That's Gablegobble," Larry replied. "Gable like park, and gobble like turkey."

'I think it might have just gotten better.' Dot thought to herself.

"Congratulations," The man smiled to Larry and shook his head. "I'm a Representative of the John C. Wolfspot, I'm the CEO of the Tummy Yummies Corporation, and you've been chosen to compete in our National Animal Talent Contest."

"Wahoo!" Estelle smiled.

The animals were of course very excited to hear all about that.

"W-W-W-W-Where?" Larry asked. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow night, Shangra Lodge." The man smirked as he tipped his hat to them before taking his exit.

"This is amazing!" Mo smiled.

"I better go tell Shackleford." Scruffy said.

Larry was so excited with the others while Scruffy walked off to find the ferret.

"Hey, Shackleford, guess what?" Scruffy smiled. "We're in! And a good thing too."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Shackleford crossed his arms. "Always with the big news."

"Now once we win the Tummy Yummies, things can finally go back to normal." Scruffy smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Shackleford replied.

"What's the matter?" Scruffy asked. "Aren't you happy?"

"Happy?" Shackleford glared at him. "Oh, sure, I'm happy, isn't this what it's all about? Clifford and his Tummy Yummies?"

"What's your problem?" Scruffy asked with a glare back.

"Haven't you noticed that everybody's been paying more attention to Clifford?" Shackleford replied. "I mean, come on, that human you hang around with even plays with him more than with you anymore!"

"Yeah, I know and where I can tell you're sick of him saying 'Tummy Yummies'," Scruffy said before glaring. "But listen, Shackleford, this... We didn't even want to come with you for the prize! I mean, seriously, if Clifford was just an ordinary sized dog, then we wouldn't have had come all this way just for you to get jealous of him! I mean, I can relate, ever since we joined, Akito's been spending all his time with him and never playing with me like we used to!"

"So, you're sick of Clifford too?" Shackleford seemed to smirk.

"Yes, I am!" Scruffy glared. "Ever since we joined you guys, Akito's been spending more and more time with him and less time with me!"

"Why don't you tell him that?" Shackleford asked.

"Yeah?" Scruffy huffed. "Don't think I won't!" He soon saw a familiar giant shadow overshadowing him, telling him one thing. "He was behind me the whole time, wasn't he?" Scruffy asked Shackleford, unimpressed for not telling him.

"Yep." Shackleford replied.

"Clifford... Buddy..." Scruffy smiled nervously as he looked behind to the big red dog.

"You don't like me, Scruffy?" Clifford asked with a frown

"I didn't mean it like that... Clifford, that didn't come out right," Scruffy frowned back. "Well, you had been stealing Akito from me."

Akito soon overheard what was going on.

"Scruffy, we were just playing." Clifford replied. 

"Yeah... Playing with my boy... With my toys... And taking away my attention!" Scruffy glared. "All because you're like some big giant Godzilla dog!"

Akito now realized that he caused this to happen.

"It's not like that." Clifford told Scruffy.

"Yes, it is!" Scruffy glared. "This never would've happened if you were a normal sized dog!"

Clifford soon gasped before glaring back and decided to leave.

"Wow, kid, that was pretty deep." Shackleford said to Scruffy.

"Well, he made me mad," Scruffy defended. "Besides, you would have just kept on complaining about him going on about wanting Tummy Yummies."

"That's a good point," Shackleford replied. "We don't need that big red mess. I don't know what's bigger, him or his stomach."

"I mean this wouldn't have happened if he was a normal sized dog or if his neighbor didn't make fun of how much he eats." Scruffy said.

"It's okay, let it all out," Shackleford soothed. "Besides, he stole your boy away from you."

"Actually, this is partially my fault." Akito frowned as he came out from a corner.

Scruffy and Shackleford turned to the boy. Scruffy looked to Akito, but huffed and turned the other way in anger.

"Scruffy, I'm so, so, so sorry for making you feel like I forgot about you, but try to imagine you being Clifford without his owner to be with him to play with him or to help him with nightmares while with a group that don't have owners." Akito said.

Scruffy still looked angry until he thought long and hard about what Akito said to him, and where he now felt awful about how he behaved towards Clifford.

"You okay, Scruff?" Akito asked.

Scruffy soon cried and ran toward Akito, tackling him on the ground with him on top as he bawled. "I'M SO SORRY!"

"It's okay, it's okay." Akito comforted.

Scruffy sniffled as he nuzzled up against his boy.

"Scruffy, I'm sorry too," Akito told his dog. "I was just trying to make Clifford feel less homesick about Emily Elizabeth. I would never forget about you."

Scruffy soon smiled as his worries of him being forgotten were relieved, but then frowned as he realized that Clifford went off on his own. "I guess I better go apologize to Clifford." The brown spotted puppy frowned.

"But first, we have to find him." Akito said.

"Can't be too hard to find him." Scruffy replied as he began to walk.

They began to follow Clifford's paw prints. Akito took out a magnifying glass to look like a Junior detective. 

"Do you really need that?" Scruffy chuckled. 

"Eh, probably not." Akito shrugged.

They continued to follow the giant paw prints. Akito hummed to himself as they looked everywhere for Clifford. 

"So close to getting that runt on my side." Shackleford huffed about Scruffy.

Dorothy had heard everything and couldn't believe how Shackleford acted.

Clifford was soon sitting far away and all by himself as he stared out into the sky, wondering what he should do. He soon thought of Emily Elizabeth calling for him. The voice then changed into Cleo's calling for him herself. 

"There you are!" Cleo smiled as she came with Kiki beside her.

"Where were you?" T-Bone asked. "You missed a great rehearsal!"

"Yeah, T-Bone and Cleo have a great routine." Dot smiled as she came over.

"Check out this new trick, Uncle Clifford." Kiki added.

T-Bone and Cleo soon came together and did a back flip together. 

"Mm-hmm..." Clifford hummed softly.

"Okay, what's up?" Dot asked before she saw Scruffy and Akito coming.

"Clifford, there you are." Scruffy smiled.

Clifford glared to him and turned away from him. Scruffy sighed as he knew why Clifford turned away from him.

"Okay, spit it out." Cleo smirked to her best friend.

"I'm going home." Clifford told her.

"We're all going when we win the contest tomorrow," T-Bone reminded him. "Right? Weenie says he really misses Room Service... Whatever that is."

"That's kind of like ordering food for your room." Patch told him as he came over.

"Weenie must live in a paradise." T-Bone chuckled.

"Well, he does live in a hotel." Patch pointed out.

"No, I'm going home now." Clifford told them all.

"Why?" Kiki asked.

"Clifford, what about the contest and the lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies?" Cleo reminded the big red dog. "And helping Emily Elizabeth?"

"I miss Emily Elizabeth, and I'm going home." Clifford replied.

"Then we're going with you." Dot said.

"But Clifford, Larry and the animals need you!" T-Bone pouted.

"They'd be better off without me, and this way I won't steal Akito from Scruffy." Clifford huffed.

"Um, actually, that's what I came to talk to you about." Scruffy frowned as he walked up to the big red Labrador.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Clifford told him. "Are you guys coming with me?"

"Uh, of course," Cleo smiled wearily. "We're a team, right?"

"All of us are." Dot said as the rest of the group besides Larry's animals arrived.

Clifford decided to lay down to let them ride on his back so they could leave the desert. Atticus decided to text Cherry to let her know that they were coming back to Birdwell Island. Scruffy was about to get on before Akito reminded him what he needed to do.

"You know what you have to do, boy." Akito reminded Scruffy.

"I do?" Scruffy asked at first.

"Yes..." Akito told him.

"Oh, right." Scruffy frowned before walking to face Clifford.

Akito nodded and soon joined the others.

"Uh, Clifford?" Scruffy called.

"What is it now, Scruffy?" Clifford sighed to the tiny puppy.

"Clifford, I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Scruffy frowned. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that or said those things; I forgot that since Emily Elizabeth wasn't here with you, that would mean you wouldn't have anyone to play with or go to when you would have bad dreams."

"You're sorry?" Clifford asked.

"Truly and sincerely," Scruffy promised. "I'm sorry, I was just mad and jealous that you and Akito were playing together."

"Well, I guess I should have asked if you wanted to play with us." Clifford sighed.

"Maybe..." Scruffy replied. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I forgive you." Clifford smiled.

Scruffy smiled back. "Pals?" He then asked hopefully. 

"Pals." Clifford accepted as he then allowed Scruffy to ride on his back with the others.

Scruffy soon got on Clifford's back.

"To Birdwell Island!" Clifford called out as they soon left the desert to go back home. 

"Goodbye, fame," Cleo said. "Goodbye, glamor."

"You should be in dog shows like me if you want fame and glamor." Georgette smirked to her sister.

"Mama's right." Kiki added.

"On second thought, I'm happy with my life." Cleo muttered.

"Thought so." Georgette smirked.

"Goodbye, Amazing Animals." T-Bone said as they left.

"And good luck with winning." Dot added.


	13. Chapter 13

Cherry checked her phone and put it away for right now as she leaned back into her chair. "The others are on their way back." she then told her daughter.

"Oh, thank goodness," Felicity replied. "By the way, Maman, when can I hear about your and Papa's secret wedding that not even Belle and Adam knew about?"

"Maybe later..." Cherry yawned as she leaned into her chair, trying to get some rest and relaxation seeing as she was on a beach. 

"At least tell me some things..." Felicity pouted.

"Okay..." Cherry replied. "Um... Well, we met with your father's old family friends, the Van Dorts who were planning an arranged marriage with their son, and that was also when we met Ciel Phantomhive, and his butler who was a demon, Sebastian Michaelis."

"Whoa." Felicity said.

Cherry then leaned back.

"Aw, come on, tell me more!" Felicity pouted. 

"Maybe later," Cherry replied. "I was at your Uncle Atticus's wedding though in Equestria, I was his best mare. Surprised he didn't choose Twilight Sparkle."

"If he did, then who would be the one to organize everything?" Felicity asked.

"You have a point there, Flick," Cherry had to admit. "Your uncle was just so close with your Aunt Twilight back in those days."

"Oui, but he must have wanted it to be fair." Felicity said.

"When they come back, we'll talk more later," Cherry smirked. "Mama needs to get some rest."

"Don't stay in the sun too long, Maman." Felicity replied.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Cherry soothed. "I learned a special vampire sun spell from Sibella and Draculaura."

Felicity smiled to that. "Don't wanna sparkle, huh?"

"You did not just say that." Cherry groaned about vampires that 'sparkled in the sun'.

"Oui, why?" Felicity asked.

"Just go play somewhere." Cherry sighed.

Felicity shrugged and ran off from her mother.

"Children these days..." Cherry muttered as she relaxed. "Ah... So relaxing."

Back with the others...

"Emily Elizabeth, here I come!" Clifford proclaimed.

"Gonna be great to be back home, isn't it, guys?" Cleo asked the others.

"You know it." Dot smiled as Akito was making sure he looked great for Emily Elizabeth.

"Is my hair okay?" Akito asked. "Are my shoelaces untied? Do I look silly?"

"Akito, what is with you?" Estelle asked her twin brother. "You're worse than Vincent when he's about to see Jenny."

"I want to look my best." Akito said.

"Why?" Estelle asked. "She's not Emi."

"I know, but..." Akito sighed.

"But what?" Jenny asked.

"I... I love her..." Akito confessed as he turned red in the face.

This caused Vincent, Estelle, Jenny, and the pets to gasp. Akito rubbed his arm nervously.

"But Akito, what about Emi?" Estelle asked. "You guys are crazy about each other!"

"Um, well..." Akito said before he felt himself about to split in two.

"There it is," Atticus said. "Right on cue."

"What just happened?!" Weenie gasped out of shock.

Jenny even nearly fell off of Clifford's back, but luckily, Oliver pulled her back so she wouldn't fall. Akito soon literally split into two people.

"I knew this would happen." Atticus said.

"Daddy, what happened to Akito?" Estelle asked.

"Well, do you remember that story I told you kids about Aunt Darla's friend Amber and Queen Elsa?" Atticus prompted.

"Ohh, yeah." Vincent said.

"So, one Akito will stay in Birdwell Island with Emily Elizabeth, and the other will stay with us?" Estelle asked.

"The one who loves Emi will stay with us, but yes." Mo smiled to the kids.

"Wow." T-Bone said.

"Uh, what do we call the other Akito then?" Estelle asked. "I don't think I can keep up with two twin brothers."

"Good question." Vincent said.

"Hmm... How about Red?" Snow White suggested with a yawn.

"I'm a person, not an imaginary friend." The second Akito said.

Snow White then shrugged as she fell asleep again. 

"Michelangelo?" Vincent suggested.

"Hmm... Sounds promising." The second Akito nodded.

"Okay, after the artist who painted the Sistene Chapels!" Vincent beamed. 

"Or a ninja turtle." The first Akito rolled his eyes.

"How about Mike?" The second Akito asked.

"Ooh, that's good," The first Akito agreed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"You just did!" The second Akito smiled. 

"Oh, right!" The first Akito smiled back.

"This is giving me a headache." Vincent groaned.

"I have a lot to learn about you humans." Clifford commented.

"Most humans don't split in two." Mo said.

"This is a special case." Atticus added.

"Wow." Clifford said.

Cleo and T-Bone thought back about how great Larry and the other animals were as Clifford was taking them back to Birdwell Island.

"I hope that Larry and the others do great." Kiki said.

"I'm sure they will, sweetheart, with or without Clifford." Georgette soothed.

"Are you sure?" Kiki asked.

"Things always work out for the better in the end," Georgette promised her. "That's how it worked for your Uncle Oliver and I."

Clifford began to think that Kiki might be right. Cleo and T-Bone continued to talk about Larry's Amazing Animals losing the talent contest without their big red friend as Clifford walked off away from the desert. Clifford soon stopped and looked way back as he wondered if he should really leave or not. After some thinking, they then went back. Atticus soon decided to message Cherry back real quick.

It was soon dark when the group had caught up the Larry and his amazing animals. Luckily in time too, it looked like a disaster was striking with the vehicles coming loose. Of course, Clifford was able to catch it before anything bad could happen. 

"Thank goodness." Mo sighed in relief for Larry's Amazing Animals.

"That was close." Scruffy sighed back.

"You said it, boy." Akito agreed with his dog.

"Big Red to the rescue!" Larry smiled as he saw Clifford from the front seat.

"Time to give them a push, big fella." Mike smiled to the big red dog.

Clifford smiled back as he did just that, and where that did the trick as they now went down the other side. Clifford then ran after the vehicle as they were going into the big city for their big showdown to win the Animal Contest before landing in his seat.

"Whew." Mike smiled.

"On the road again~" Oliver began to sing. "I can't wait to get on the road again~"

"Please, no singing." Georgette told him.

"Can I whistle?" Oliver asked.

"No." Georgette groaned.

"Hum?" Oliver asked.

"...Fine." Georgette sighed.

"Huh, now where have we heard that before?" Mo smirked towards her husband.

"Gee, I dunno," Atticus smirked back. "Could it be a certain adventure of ours?"

"You already know the answer to that." Mo added.

"Sorry for leaving you guys at the last second back there." Scruffy smiled bashfully at the group of animals.

"So, you're back to stay, amigo?" Rodrigo asked Scruffy.

"Um, sort of." Scruffy said.

"Well, thank you for coming back anyway," Dorothy smiled. "It really means a lot to us. And even to Shackleford."

"You sure about that?" Scruffy asked.

"I'm not so sure myself." Clifford sulked.

"Listen, I know he was pretty mean to you yesterday," Dorothy coaxed to Clifford. "He was just feeling... Replaced by you."

"Replaced? I thought he was feeling jealous." Scruffy said.

"Besides, all I wanted to do was help." Clifford added.

"I know, I know, Clifford, it's not your fault," Dorothy coaxed. "Scruffy's right... He's just... Not the most secure ferret in the world, but he means well."

"You know, sometimes talking things out works," Scruffy said. "I learned that the hard way."

"You're a sweet pup." Dorothy smiled to Scruffy.

"Yeah, but I wasn't nice to Clifford and said some things I shouldn't have." Scruffy said.

"I'm sure you didn't mean it, sweetie." Dorothy tried to comfort.

"I was speaking out of anger," Scruffy frowned. "And misunderstanding."

"Anger can be a powerful emotion when you're in pain." Dorothy soothed.

Clifford decided to talk to Shackleford.

They soon made it into the city and they saw all the amazing sights and sounds.

"Rock on, dude!" Dirk laughed as they made it into the next destination which was for the Animal Contest and the moment of truth for the lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies.

"This is going to be great." Mo smiled.

They made their stop in front of a professional theater where they were going to preform for everyone, it was the high life for them all now. The host and hostess were going to introduce the man who made this all possible, but a little girl looked mad at him, and which sent a chill down the kids spines.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. George C. Wolfsbottom!" The hostess introduced.

Larry and the others came backstage as the man of Tummy Yummies Inc came to talk with the crowd while the little girl seemed to observe them.

"Why don't like how that girl is looking at us?" Dot asked.

"What girl?" Scruffy asked before looking over to see the girl behind the curtains. "Oh, that girl."

"Whoa, now we're talkin'!" The girl smiled up to Clifford. "Whoo-wee, that's a whole lotta red!"

"Can we help you?" Mike asked her.

"Howdy," The girl replied. "I'm Madison Wolfsbottom."

"It's nice to meet you." Mike said.

"Ooh, guys, we got a cue to meet." Larry told the animals.

"Break a leg, you guys." Weenie smiled to the other animals.

"Uncle Weenie, what a thing to say!" Kiki gasped.

"No, I learned that expression from Eloise's mother," Weenie replied. "It means good luck."

"Ohh." Kiki smiled.

The ones performing soon went out to the stage as the host and hostess introduced them.

"I doubt they're good." Scruffy said.

Larry's Amazing Animals soon went to preform for the people as this was the big animal talent contest, and where everyone would be amazed by their acts. Even Cleo and T-Bone had a lot of fun. Nothing could possibly go wrong now. Cleo stepped onto a lever as Rodrigo lifted his weight which made the crowd applaud. Rodrigo smiled sheepishly and then slid down the ramp beside him with the weight in his front paws before landing on the lever which sent him and Cleo flying in the air.

"Wow." Dot smiled.

The two dogs soon landed on Dorothy as she was walking across the tightrope with a baton. Dirk got himself ready to skate down the ramp as there were three hoops placed for him to go over.

"Go, Dirk!" The pups smiled.

Dirk sped down the ramp and flew into the hoops which amazed the crowd even more, and he even flew over the audience. Unfortunately, he went too far and got Dorothy, Cleo, and Rodrigo off of the tightrope as Dirk was about to land with a parachute which then summoned Clifford.

"Yeah, Clifford!" Scruffy and Dot smiled.

The animals first landed on Clifford's tail and he soon flung them up onto his back. Now it was Shackleford's turn and the crowd even took pictures as they couldn't believe their eyes.

"You can do it, Shackleford." Mo smiled.

Shackleford waved from the top and soon began his trapeze act with T-Bone.

"Wahoo!" Vincent smiled.

Shackleford and T-Bone soon trapezed together, but they missed each other at first before they came across the second time and flipped in the air to switch places. They soon tried it again, but hit each other's backs which made them about to plummet onto the wooden floor since there was no net.

"Oh, I can't watch." Estelle covered her eyes.

The crowd was in fearful suspense, but luckily, Clifford caught them from their fall.

"Clifford saved them, Mama." Teddy told his trainer.

"Oh, thank you, Teddy," Estelle smiled to her Pokemon. "That was a close one."

Teddy nuzzled up against her. 

"That was awesome though." Vulpix chuckled.

"Yeah." The Ralts twins smiled.

"Well, at least they're having fun." Jenny smiled down to the Pokemon. 

Clifford soon did a flip on his back and juggled the other animals on his back paws.

"Awesome." Atticus smiled.

Mo laughed and even clapped. 

"Such an amazing feat." Colette looked impressed.

"Yeah, it really is." Patch added.

Meanwhile on Birdwell Island...

Just like in her suite, Eloise sat with her robe on in the couch and she held her parasol while wearing binoculars in case there would be a glare on the TV screen, only this time, she wouldn't have a meringue glacée and Nanny would have her three Pilsener Beers, and she wasn't watching boxing this time, but it was the Animal Talent Show. What she saw then caused her to gasp.

"What'd I miss?" Drell asked as he came into the room to sit down with her on the couch like Nanny would as he brought out a large sub sandwich for himself.

"I found Weenie and the others!" Eloise told him.

"Is that right?" Drell asked before he looked at the screen and gasped before coughing and nearly choking on his sandwich.

Eloise soon flopped over and took the phone and dialed a number.

Mr. Howard answered the phone, and knew who it was like Room Service back at the Plaza Hotel. "Good evening, Eloise." she then greeted the self-proclaimed city child and new friend of his daughter's.

"Hello, this is me, Eloise," Eloise greeted anyway. "Could you please tell Emily Elizabeth to turn on the TV?"

"Um, sure." Mr. Howard said.

"Thank you very much." Eloise smiled before hanging up.

"Do you always have to announce yourself?" Drell asked Eloise.

"Yes." Eloise smirked just to annoy him like Prunella or Mrs. Thornton.

"Oh, brother." Drell rolled his eyes.

Emily Elizabeth soon saw Clifford on TV with the others and called Sheriff Lewis and Mrs. Diller right away.

A Scottish Terrier soon came onto the stage to hand an envelope to the host and hostess of the animal talent contest.

"Who's that Scottish Terrier?" Mo asked.

"Kinda reminds me of Uncle Jock." Colette commented.

"I think we already know who won." Patch whispered.

"And the winner of the Tummy Yummies talent contest is..." The hostess began as she took the envelope with a suspenseful drum roll. "LARRY'S AMAZING ANIMALS!"

"Wahoo!" The Fudo family smiled.

Shackleford was the most happy out of all of them.

"We won!" Scruffy smiled.

"Good job, everyone!" Patch approved. 

Everyone then celebrated the victory of winning the contest.

"Wahoo!" Dot smiled.

"We did it!" Larry smiled all around before hugging Clifford. "Y-You guys... You guys are the best!" 

Shackleford glared at Larry.

"I never could've done it without you!" Larry laughed as he then picked up the ferret and spun him around on his shoulders.

Madison soon whispered something to her father. Scruffy decided to eavesdrop on what Madison whispered and didn't like what he heard. The daughter and father seemed to grin evilly to each other.


	14. Chapter 14

Scruffy decided to eavesdrop on what Madison whispered and didn't like what he heard. The daughter and father seemed to grin evilly to each other. Many of fans came over to take pictures of Larry's Amazing Animals.

"Clifford, we need to use magic to shrink you now." Scruffy whispered to him.

"Shrink me?" Clifford asked. "But why?"

Larry signed autographs for everyone and unknowingly signed a contract from Mr. Wolfsbottom who had an evil grin on his face before snapping his fingers to summon bodyguards.

"That's why." Scruffy said before he concentrated and used his magic on Clifford.

Wolfsbottom came to talk with Larry. The others who knew about the magic then moved out of the way so Scruffy wouldn't hit them with his magic. Scruffy's magic soon changed Clifford into the size of a normal dog. Clifford blinked and looked around.

"Man, this is weird.' T-Bone commented about Clifford's new size.

"Quick, act natural." Dot whispered to them.

They then nodded and acted as though nothing happened to Clifford. 

"Oh, well, a deal's a deal." George said.

"Uh, sir, where's the big red dog?" One of the security guards asked.

"How could you miss him?" John scoffed before looking around for Clifford. "He's right--uh, where'd he go?"

"Is there a problem?" Atticus asked as he came to George.

"My daughter's been wanting a certain pet of yours," George replied. "The big red dog to be precise."

"Sorry, but he's not for sale." Atticus said.

"Oh, and you'll stop me?" George glared.

"Yeah, I'll get my lawyer." Atticus glared back.

"Is that so?" George huffed.

Atticus whipped out his cell phone and put it to his ear. "Let's see what Phoenix Wright has to say about that. One ring."

"Phoenix Wright is your lawyer?" George asked. "You're crazy!"

"Or am I?" Atticus replied. "Two rings."

"Y-You're bluffing." George gulped.

"Three rings--" Atticus said before he got an answer. "Oh, hi, April May, is Phoenix in today?"

'Yes, he is,' A female voice said. 'I'll transfer you to him.'

"Thank you, April," Atticus smiled. "By the way, say hi to the family for me."

'Will do, sir.' The woman replied before transferring his call to his lawyer.

'Hello?' A male voice asked.

"Phoenix?" Atticus asked back. "This is your #1 client speaking."

'Ah, Atticus, how are you doing?' Atticus's lawyer asked.

"I'd like to talk to you about something..." Atticus replied before telling his lawyer what George Wolfsbottom was doing.

'That does sound serious.' Phoenix said.

"So, what do you suggest I do?" Atticus asked.

"He's not serious, is he?" George smiled nervously to Mo.

"Don't doubt my husband," Mo wagged her finger. "You're lucky he doesn't have Phoenix Wright show up in person."

"Um, you know what, I don't think that we'll want to cause any more trouble." George smiled nervously as he tore up the contract.

Atticus smirked. "Sorry for wasting your time, Phoenix," he then told his lawyer. "Say hi to everyone for me."

'Will do,' Phoenix replied. 'Say hi to the wife and kids.'

"I sure will." Atticus smiled.

George smiled nervously as Atticus hung up. 

"Objection!" Akito called out before chuckling. "Sorry, I just love it when Mr. Wright does that."

"Who wouldn't want to say his famous line?" Mo asked.

"I just love the way he says it," Akito chuckled. "He makes being a lawyer sound so cool."

"He sure does." Mo said.

"Daddy, you said I could have the big red dog!" Madison glared at her father.

"Do you want your father to get sued for trying to take a dog that wasn't yours?" Mo asked her.

"My daddy said I could have Clancy and put him in my collection." Madison replied.

"Clancy?" The others asked.

"Yeah," Madison smiled. "Ain't it just the perfect name for 'im?"

"But that's not even his name." Estelle said.

"Oh, and what do you know?" Madison scoffed.

"I know that I can already tell that you don't know how to take care of an animal." Estelle said.

"You know better, huh?" Madison glared.

"Look, I probably just met you, but I don't like this attitude, Miss Sassy Pants." Estelle glared back like Mabel Pines and Pacifica Northwest staring each other down before the blonde girl reformed herself.

"Yeah, well, I don't like you either." Madison glared back.

"I bet the puppies were right to not like you." Estelle scowled.

"Girls, you're both pretty, let's not get in a fight now." Vincent smiled nervously to his little sister and the Tummy Yummies daughter.

Madison stuck her tongue out at Estelle while Estelle's eyes flashed a bright white and pink color similar to Lexi's.

"Okay, let's just calm down now." George smiled nervously.

Estelle soon came back to her family while Madison looked outraged and defeated that she couldn't keep Clifford as her own pet, especially since he already belonged to Emily Elizabeth.

After the contest, the family and others knew they had to tell Larry the truth.

"I thought you all seemed fancy, but why did you lie to me?" Larry asked the family.

"It was the only way we could stay close to Clifford, T-Bone, and Cleo." Mo said.

"Who?" Larry asked. 

Mo pointed to the small yellow dog, the frisky purple poodle, and the big red dog. 

"Oh... I see..." Larry replied. "Are they yours?"

"Not exactly." Atticius said before showing him the three dog tags.

"So, you know these dogs and their owners?" Larry asked.

"Yes, we must get back," Atticus replied. "We're sorry for lying, but Clifford here wanted to be in the show so he could win a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies so his family wouldn't have to worry about feeding him anymore."

"Uh-huh..." Larry replied as he doubted the last part as he sounded like he thought Atticus was crazy. "And I suppose the dogs just told you?"

"It's true." Estelle said.

"Right..." Larry replied.

"We're telling you the truth," Vincent said. "We can talk to animals."

"If you want, we could help you." Mo offered.

"Sure..." Larry rolled his eyes. "Sure, anyone can talk to animals."

"Um, did we just admit that we can talk to animals?" Estelle asked her older brother before gulping.

"I think it might be good for him, Estelle," Vincent told his little sister. "He works around animals all the time, it might be good for him to understand him."

"Oh, right." Estelle said.

"You can just... Talk to them...?" Larry blinked.

"That's right..." Mo said before coming up to him and kissing him much to everyone else's shock, but the most spazzed out was Atticus before she let go. "Okay, try it."

"Um... Hey, guys." Larry waved to his animal friends.

"Hey, Larry." Dorothy smiled.

Larry's eyes widened.

"Hola ¿Cómo estás?" Rodrigo added.

"Nice to talk to ya, man." Dirk smiled.

"Hey." Shackleford greeted.

Larry rubbed his eyes and did a double take.

"By the way, my name's not Big Red, it's Clifford." The big red dog told Larry.

"Well,... This is different..." Larry blinked in surprise before glancing to Mo. "And why did you just kiss me?"

"It's the only way to give those who are trustworthy the ability to talk to animals." Mo said.

"So, I can talk to my animal friends now?" Larry asked.

"Mm-hmm." Mo smiled and nodded.

"Well, that's great." Larry smiled back.

"Yeah... Great..." Atticus muttered since Mo kissed another man, though he understood why, he just couldn't help his jealousy.

Soon enough, it was time for everyone to head back to Birdwell Island. 

"Sorry we can't stay, Larry, but I just wanted to make Emily Elizabeth and her parents happy," Clifford told the man. "Thank you so much for believing in me, and being a good man."

"Yeah." T-Bone said.

"I guess this is goodbye." Cleo sighed about leaving the lifestyle of being rich and famous.

"Get back home safe." Larry smiled to the dogs before they had to go back home.

The group soon left to go back to Birdwell Island. 

"Ah, I can't wait to see Emily Elizabeth's gorgeous, heart-melting smile when she reunites with Clifford..." Mike sighed dreamily. "Then we can walk together with her beautiful baby soft skinned hands in my own."

"Are you imagining her on the beach?" Akito deadpanned to his double.

"Uh... No?" Mike smiled sheepishly and popped his thought bubble of Emily Elizabeth in a bathing suit.

"Oh, brother." Vincent rolled his eyes.

"You said it." Akito agreed.

After a while, they soon arrived back to Birdwell Island. It was a rather emotional goodbye, but it was for the best.


	15. Chapter 15

"Clifford!" Emily Elizabeth beamed and ran toward her big red dog.

Clifford was as happy to see Emily Elizabeth as she was happy to see him. Everyone else was of course happy for her, and especially Mrs. Diller when she reunited with Cleo and Sheriff Lewis reunited with T-Bone. Clifford soon showed Mike to Emily Elizabeth.

"Akito?" Emily Elizabeth asked.

"Actually, my name's Mike," Mike replied. "Wow, you look as beautiful as I remember."

"It hasn't been that long." Emily Elizabeth blushed with a smile.

"Any moment without you feels like an eternity." Mike smiled back.

"Is my double suddenly Vincent now?" Akito face-palmed.

"Well, some doubles don't always act like the originals." Mo said.

"I wonder if Aunt Cherry's double is a warm, fun-loving, and energetic lady and not cold, dark, and depressing..." Akito smirked.

"Hello, Baby Atticus." Cherry appeared right behind him.

"GAH!" Akito yelped at his aunt's sudden appearance as he smiled nervously to her. "I was just talking about someone else, Aunt Cherry..."

"Sure you were." Cherry smirked.

Eloise soon ran over as her dog barked and ran to her before he pounced on her and she laughed as Weenie licked her face and she ended up on the ground. Skipperdee and Ditto looked happy to see Weenie back and Eloise happy.

"Such a nice reunion." Drell said.

"You losing your mind babysitting the Plaza Hotel's precious princess yet?" Cherry smirked to the warlock.

"She's driving me insane!" Drell told her.

"I knew you'd crack," Cherry smirked. "I should've been a student at The Cross Academy instead of Canterlot High School."

"Cross Academy?" Felicity shivered. "That place sounds creepy."

"Oh, it is." Drell said.

"It's a school for both mortals and vampires, Flick," Cherry told her daughter. "Kinda like the school Draculaura went to before transferring to Monster High."

"You are peculiar, Maman..." Felicity trembled.

"Yes, she is." Drell nodded in agreement to that statement.

"I want to know more about her wedding to Papa," Felicity pouted. "I know about Aunt Mo and Uncle Atticus's.... They went to Equestria and Aunt Twilight married them."

"You never told her?" Drell asked Cherry.

"I don't see why I should." Cherry replied.

"She's your daughter!" Drell exclaimed.

Cherry still shrugged almost like it didn't matter.

"Fine, then I'll tell her." Drell said.

"Hey!" Cherry glared. 

"Well, it's a bit morbid, but you are the daughter of Cherry, so you couldn't possibly be scarred for life by this story." Drell told Felicity.

"Ooh." Felicity said.

"Come on, Emily Elizabeth," Clifford smiled up to his owner as she sat on his back. "Let's go home."

"Let's, Clifford." Emily Elizabeth smiled back to him since they could now talk to each other.

"Where's Mike going to live?" Estelle asked her father.

"Hey, guys!" Mike waved as he sat with Emily Elizabeth. "I'm gonna live with the Howards now until I can marry Emily Elizabeth!"

"Oh, my gosh." Akito face-palmed and blushed in embarrassment.

"Well, there's our answer." Mo said.

"Daddy, do you think we'll see Clifford and Emily Elizabeth again?" Estelle asked.

"I'm not sure, Princess, but maybe someday," Atticus smiled down to her. "Who knows what the future might hold?"

"Yeah... Like that blue thing from my dream..." Estelle replied.

"What blue thing?" Mo asked her daughter.

"I've been seeing this blue blob in my dreams lately." Estelle said.

"It's not Bloo, is it?" Vincent asked her.

"No, I don't think it's an imaginary friend," Estelle replied. "I don't think it's one of Jumba's experiments either..." She then described the thing from her dream based on what she told Akito the other day about what she saw in her dream.

Drell knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I know it's strange, but I can't make it out." Estelle said.

"I know what it is," Drell replied. "That is a Pokemon known as a Manaphy."

"Pokemon?" The kids asked in excitement as this sounded like another adventure with the Ketchum siblings and more.

"Yep, also known as the Prince of the Sea." Drell said.

"It's a boy?" Estelle asked. "Huh, could've sworn it was a girl."

"All right, a new Pokemon adventure," Akito smiled. "My favorite!"

"Yep," Drell said. "Oh, by the way, that new boy that you'll meet, yeah, you'll meet him after meeting many more of Ash's and Emi's friends."

"A new boy, huh?" Vincent asked. "What's his name?"

"I believe Emi told Akito at your last Pokemon adventure." Drell said.

"Hmm..." Akito paused for a moment as he thought back to their adventure with Deoxys.

Flashback to the last adventure which was known as Destiny Deoxys...

"New students?" Akito asked his girlfriend out of confusion.

"That's right." Emi nodded to Akito.

"So, like, friends?" Akito asked.

"You could say that." Emi nodded. "

"That's good to know." Akito said.

"I guess you'll have to meet them sometime," Emi replied. "I hope you'll all become the best of friends."

"Same here," Akito said. "So, I'm guessing we'll also be meeting a new friend along the way."

"Oh, yes, indeed," Emi smiled to Akito. "When don't you during these adventures with us?"

"That's true." Akito smiled back to her.

"Anyway, his name is Rali." Emi revealed.

"Rali, huh?" Akito repeated the name curiously. "Which region is he from?"

"The Unova region." Emi said.

"Hmm..." Akito hummed in thought. "I suppose I could wait meeting him."

"I know you will," Emi soothed before she looked into his eyes and took his hands which made him blush slightly, but he listened to everything she said. "Akito, it's been magical since the day I met you, I don't know what I would do in my life if I hadn't had you in it."

"Same here." Akito smiled.

"I know we're only kids, but I feel like we're more than just friends..." Emi smiled back.

"I felt it from the moment we first laid eyes on each other, and that's why I kissed you before me, Estelle, and Vincent left Pallet Town." Akito nodded.

Emi giggled and blushed as she remembered that. Akito blushed back since he loved the sound of her laughter, it was like a beautiful musical melody to his ears.

End of Flashback

 

"Oh, Emi..." Akito whispered.

"So, besides Emi, what do you remember?" Drell teased.

"Just that she told me which region we would go to and where I'm guessing that her powers of Psychic Pokemon told her." Akito said.

"That's very likely," Drell replied. "Emi's powers are developing, but when she gets older, she'll make the best Pokemon Princess there ever was."

"But Quilava warned us that her powers might take over her." Estelle said.

"You will have to watch out for that," Drell replied. "She's very exceptional though."

"How is she the Pokemon Princess anyway?" Akito asked. "Was Mrs. Ketchum one before her or something?" Akito soon remembered finding out that Emi wasn't really Ash's sister by blood.

"Emi was--" Drell was about to say.

"Adopted, I remember now..." Akito replied. "Sorry, I forget about that sometimes."

"Right," Drell said. "Her birth mother is mostly in charge of the Pokemon on her and the family ranch."

"Wait, did you say ranch?" Akito asked.

"Yes, why?" Drell replied.

"Drell, how did you know this?" Estelle asked.

"I know everything." Drell bragged.

"Yes, we know that, but how?" Vincent asked.

"What do you mean how?" Drell rolled his eyes. "I just do!"

"Then why did Emi's parents give her up?" Akito asked.

Drell took a breath, but then stopped with a shrug. "Okay, I actually don't know about that, I think they just thought Emi would be happier with the Ketchums."

"We'll have to find out." Akito said.

"That'll have to be a mystery you can solve." Drell smirked as he put a Sherlock Holmes cap on Akito's head.

"And I will be able to solve it." Akito smiled.

"That's a good boy, now, say goodbye to Birdwell Island." Drell told them all. 

"Aww!" The kids pouted about leaving this place since they grew to love it a lot. "Will we ever come back?"

"We'll see." Drell replied before he took them to the ferry to go back home.

"Bye-Bye, Aunt Cleo." Kiki said.

"Bye, sweetheart...." Cleo nuzzled with her niece. "It was great to meet ya."

"It was nice to meet you too." Kiki smiled.

Cleo smiled back to her niece. "Be good for your parents, ya hear?" She then reminded.

"I will, Aunt Cleo." Kiki promised.

The group soon got on the ferry. Everyone soon waved off as they were splitting up as this adventure came to an end.

Mike soon came to Emily Elizabeth and held her hand and the two smiled to each other, and where he would stay with the Howards so he would get to know them more.

"So, Mike, have you lived on the island long?" Mr. Howard asked.

"Not too long," Mike blushed. "I, uh, kinda wanted to stay after I met your daughter for the first time."

"I can tell that you like her." Mr. Howard smiled.

"Um, that's not a problem, is it, sir?" Mike asked the man of the house.

"No, not at all, I can already tell that you're a trustworthy boy." Mr. Howard said.

Mike smiled to the Howard couple since they seemed to approve of him hanging around Emily Elizabeth now.

"You should come to school with me," Emily Elizabeth said. "Ms. Carrington loves new students."

"I love school." Mike smiled.

"That's what we love to hear," Mrs. Howard smiled back. "We'll enroll you on Monday so you can be in Emily Elizabeth's class."

"Great." Mike replied happily.

This seemed to be a wonderful ending for everyone.

The Fudo siblings came back into their bedrooms and Akito soon brought out his picture of Emi as it seemed like he was going to see her again really soon, and where he would be in for another Pokemon adventure.

"Looks like you'll see Emi again soon." Vincent told his younger brother.

"Sure looks like it..." Akito replied as he hugged Emi's picture. "I just wish I could call her and tell her when we're going to meet next... I love the surprises, but whenever there's other adventures in between Pokemon adventures, it feels like ages until I'll see her again."

"I know what you mean." Vincent said.

"About you and Jenny Foxworth." Akito smirked.

"Yes..." Vincent glared before clearing his throat and smiled. "She is the wind beneath my wings~" he then sang which cracked a window and he smiled nervously. "Okay, I'm not a Siren, but it didn't hurt to try."

"True." Akito nodded.

"I'm really happy for ya, buddy..." Vincent said before leaving to his own room.

Akito hugged his picture and soon sat down on his bed as he sighed while daydreaming about Emi as usual.

The End


End file.
